Team makes Dallas history with win

By Shaelyn Stone

White Rock Rowing, the only Dallas rowing club to hold a national youth championship trophy (2014, 2021), returned to White Rock Lake this week after a trip to Sarasota, Fla. to compete in USRowing 2022’s National Youth Championships. There, the women’s U16 8+ boat, the largest team boat category, made history for Dallas by becoming the first ever 8-person boat to make A Finals at youth nationals.

 In May, White Rock Rowing scooped up a number of gold, silver and bronze medals at Regionals, qualifying for a record number of 11 events at Nationals. Of the 1,300 competing high school teams and clubs in the U.S., only 200 qualified for Nationals. On Tuesday, June 7, the local rowing club set out with 50 youth athletes from across the metroplex to head to Sarasota.

 Racing began on Thursday, June 9 and ended with A Finals on Sunday, June 12. In those four days, White Rock Rowing launched seven competitive boats, placing top 10 nationwide in three key events.

“I am so proud of the work our White Rock Rowing coaches and athletes have put in all season long to make it to Nationals, and it clearly shows in our placements and the fact that we just became the first ever Dallas club to put an 8-person boat in A Finals at Nationals,” said Sue Ellen Chambers, president and board chair of White Rock Rowing. “That’s a huge deal, but what’s even more impressive is that we did it with such a young group — they have years ahead of them to improve and accomplish more under our coaches’ leadership. We’re going to continue to lead Dallas in becoming a renowned rowing city. We’ve got all the right ingredients to make that happen!”

“It is an amazing feeling to come home knowing that we have made Dallas history and knowing how hard we worked for it,” said Womens U16 8+ rower, Charlotte Bohannon. “I am so incredibly proud of my team and how we came together and pushed ourselves just within a few months! My coach was so amazing at keeping us focused and training us not just physically but mentally, and it really shows.”

2022 USRowing National Youth Championships White Rock Rowing Results:

 Women’s U16 8+ 

• Placed 5: Emmaline Pampel, Emerson Donahue, Josie Airitam, Charlotte Bohannon, Violet Libson, Addison Holmes, Kenna Rosenthal, Leah Jones and Cordelia Bowden.

Women’s Youth 4- 

• Placed 8: Evelyn Fox, Zoe Cramer, Isabella Cooper and Katherine Adams.

Women’s U15 4X+ 

• Placed 10: Elyse Lau, Stirling Moyse, London Ezell, Sidney Bailey and Kaelina Nolen.

Men’s Youth 2V 8+

• Placed 19: Aiden Dekock, Aiden Munsterman, Luke McCavit, John Jungerman, Paul Bagley, Harrison Sears, Walker Sears, Peter Ellis-Mani and Kellen Zellmer.

Men’s U17 8+

• Placed 20: Anjali Pamurthy, William Seifert, Lucas Cooper, Juan Huerta, Kian McLaughlin, Hugo Cortez, Luca D’Orso, Surya Jalapati and Jett Fenlaw.

Women’s Youth 4+ 

• Placed 26: Chloe Moore, Kelsey Weaver, Renee Powell, Linnea Roberts and Emma Shay-Thomas.

Men’s Youth 8+

• Placed 32: Paris West, Benjamin Winslow, Daniel O’Loughlin, Hunter Howard, Will Kennedy, Mateo Calderon, Joseph Moler, Nicolas Lavandera and Humberto Gallego.

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