2011 Masters Nationals Complete

Austin Rowing Club Strikes Gold
at USRowing Masters National Championships

46 members of Austin Rowing Club traveled to Oklahoma City to race in the 2011 USRowing Masters National Championships on August 11-14. The club placed 6th out of 89 clubs in overall team points, and brought several Championship titles home to Texas.

Masters racing is based on age categories and boat class. Rowers can compete in their own age group, or in any category younger than their age group, across several different boat classes, from singles, to doubles, to fours, to eights. Austin Rowing Club members succeeded across the several categories and age groups.

ARC Director Sara-Mai Conway won the AA singles title (21 and older) and also won gold in the lightweight C double (46 and older) with ARC member Nancy Lee. ARC also won gold in the Women’s A Double, the Women’s AA Quad, the Women’s Club A Eight, and the Mixed A Eight. (Mixed boats are 50% women and 50% men).

The team points trophy is awarded based on the success of each club’s total entries. Austin Rowing Club finished in 6th place out of 89 rowing clubs from across the US, Canada, and France.

Anyone can learn to row, and it’s never too late! The oldest competitor at this year’s National Championships was 83 years young. For more information on rowing lessons, high school programs, and corporate rowing programs, visit AustinRowing.org

Austin Rowing Club celebrates its 30th anniversary this month.

Medals Won : 2011 USRowing Masters National Championships

Gold Medals
Women’s AA Single
Women’s A Double
Women’s Light C Double
Women’s AA Quad
Women’s Club A Eight
Mixed A Eight

Silver Medals

Men’s Light A Single
Women’s AA Double
Men’s Club D Quad
Men’s Club A Quad
Mixed A Quad
Women’s Club B Quad
Mixed E Quad
Women’s AA-B Four
Men’s Club C Eight
Bronze Medals

Women’s A Single
Men’s A Double
Women’s B Eight

July’s Smackdown Regatta : Loads of Video and Good Times

written by Brock Sampson

Austin Rowing Club’s July Smackdown Regatta was a huge success. There were approximately 70+ athletes representing novice, intermediate and competitive crews. Below are some video highlights that we can all share with friends and family.

Remember this feeling gang .. welcome to the world of racing!

Watch Novice heats for those newly formed crews anxiously awaiting their first taste of victory!

Watch an Intermediate Championship and a crew with new bragging rights!

The cheese wedge stroke seat won the MASH-UP hat race. The pick of the draw determined the experience level of the boat, so there was no telling how the race might end up! Who was that character anyway?

Afterwards, we all headed over to Luster Pearl to celebrate our ITR Graduates, relish in our victories, defeats, and have good times with new friends and family! Sorry, no video here, but we should all have a new appreciation for hoola-hoops!

The scene before the slaughter!

Holy Shell vs. Blade Runners

Holy Shell took this heat!

Texas Heat vs. Rigger Mortis

Rigger Mortis took this heat!

Holy Shell vs. Rigger Mortis

Rigger Mortis wins the Novice Championship Belt

Dead Riggers vs. Crack Oars

Crack Oars wins the Intermediate Championship Belt

MASH-UP!

“this is going as fast as captain crunch is going” ~ EPIC!

Junior Named to Scholastic Honor Roll

Brett- in red top

In November of 2010, Westlake senior, and Austin Rowing Club junior, Brett Mele was named to the US Rowing Scholastic Honor Roll. She is one of 55 student-athletes from around the country to be honored. The scholastic honor roll recognizes high school seniors who have excelled both in the classroom and in rowing. Applicants are ranked based on SAT scores, GPA, and rowing success on the regional level or higher.

Brett started rowing her freshman year in high school and was elected co-team captain her junior and senior year. Her junior year she bowed the JV quad to a Texas State Championship. Her lightweight four went undefeated spring 2010 and won a gold at the Central Regional Championships. In the lightweight double she qualified at Central Regionals and finished 6th in the nation at the US Rowing Youth National Championships.

Congratulations to Brett for her success in the classroom and on the water.

Strong start to juniors spring season

The ARC juniors took to the water this past weekend at the Heart of Texas Regatta, March 5-6. Over 700 boats and teams from Texas, Oklahoma and beyond competed in the annual event. Racing started with a strong head wind which was followed by thunder storms. Racing resumed with just the big boats finishing day one. ARC medaled in every eight event we entered. The races started with a 2nd place finish in the novice boys eight followed by a 1st and 3rd place in the novice girls event. Varsity girls finished the day with a 2nd and 4th place finish in the eight.

Second day of racing brought beautiful weather with calm wind and sunny skies. This was the biggest day of racing with the kids competing in singles, doubles, and quads. The novices continue to shine with a 1st place finish in the novice boy’s single and a sweep of the novice girl’s single (1st, 2nd, 3rd). Novice girls continued on to place 3 quads in the grand final and a 1st place finish in the event. Novice boys had a strong showing with a 4th place finish in the novice boy’s double. Varsity girls dominated the JV double event with four boats in the grand final and a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place finish. Lightweight boys and girls both finished 3rd in their respective double event. Varsity boys finished the day with a 6th place finish in the varsity double, 5th place in the JV boy’s double, and varsity girls quad a 5th place finish.

Juniors Win Erg Relay at Erg Rodeo

The ARC juniors started the spring race season at Erg Rodeo on February 5, 2011. The annual event, hosted on the University of Texas campus, draws over a hundred youth rowers competing on rowing machines for a 2,000 meter distance.

The novice rowers start first with Michael Ragan finishing 5th in the lightweight novice boys race and Abby Colety winning the lightweight girls. ARC would sweep the awards in the lightweight novice women’s race finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

On the openweight side Ben White finishes a strong 2nd place for novice boys and Victoria Bartell wins the novice women’s race by over 30 seconds. She was followed by ARC teammates for 2nd and 3rd.

Next up the varsity rowers finished in the top three in all varsity events. Chris Duke finished 2nd in the lightweight varsity boys event and Lucy Ellis finished 3rd for the lightweight women. Final individual races included a 3rd place finish for Philip Johnson in the varsity junior men and Nicole Brandt a 2nd place for the varsity women.

The highlight of the competition was the team relay at the end of the day. Eight rowers raced 1,000 meters each and the coxswain 500 meters. Teammates Philip, Andrew, Chris, Ben, Caroline, Nicole, Hannah, Victoria, and coxswain Brian work together to win the team event.

Newest Club Crew at ARC – the OarWhat?

OarWhat? Crew

OarWhat? — ARC’s newest Club Crew — celebrated Rob Johnson’s birthday after their row this week.    OarWhat? was organized by boat captain Ricardo Ramirez in September with members of the August 2010 ITR class.   The crew rows every Monday night at 6:30pm, and is looking forward to their first race at the Winter Warrior in February.

Crew members:  Rob Johnson, Sabine Johnson, Ricardo Ramirez, Kathy Lopez, Coby Musick, Lacy Sawyer, Gaurav Gupta, Kate Frangos,  and Jose Vaquez.  Jack Graham is coxing until the crew is self-coxed, with  Ricardo and Rob  already well on their way to becoming qualified ARC cox’ns.  Gaurav is next to try the cox seat, in the dark these winter nights.   With encouragement from  Coach Patrick Kelly, the crew is developing skills and confidence that are surprising for these new rowers.

Sabine brought hot Gluehwein (German spiced hot wine) and a special German cake she baked for the celebration on the deck.   Usually the crew is on Rainey Street for refreshments after their row.

 

Juniors Battle Ghosts and Goblins at Annual Regatta

At the 26th running of the Pumpkin Head Regatta, the ARC Juniors go trick or treating and come home with a basket of medals. The annual regatta, this year on October 30, features teams from all over Texas as well as Utah, Arizona, and Oklahoma who race a grueling 5,000 meters through bridges and other obstacles.

Juniors raced in over 35 boats ranging from singles to eights in both novice and varsity categories. The boys showed their strength in the singles winning the novice 1x (David) event by over a minute and finishing first (Michael R) and second (Daniel) in the recreation 1x event. The girls also looked good in the singles with a second place finish in the novice 1x (Ashley E) and first (Abby) and third (Isabella) in the recreational 1x.

The lightweight girls (Ashley E, Brett) dominated the 2x event by winning by a minute and the varsity boys (Philip, Andrew) had a strong showing in the double with a third place medal. The last minute entry in the varsity girls four event proved to be no problem with a silver medal (Avery, Becca, Lucy, Brittany, Hannah) and the novice girls four also looked good with a second place finish (Jennifer, Lauren B, Brittany, Danielle, Allie).

In the big boats, ARC medaled in all of the eight races we entered. The varsity girls eight was first down the course and finished second (Avery, Becca, Lucy, Ashley E, Nicole, Meghan, Hannah, Lauren A, Katie). Right behind them the novice boys also finished an impressive second place (Brian, Walter, Chris, Joe, Michael R, Ben, Leo, Kipp, David). Finally, the novice girls eight brought home the gold (Jennifer, Lauren B, Brittany, Leah, Allie, Victoria, Madeline, Meghan, Danielle).

We had great weather, strong racing, and good times this year. Next up, the juniors travel to Chattanooga, TN to race in one of the largest fall regattas in the country.

Juniors Win Big at First Fall Regatta

The juniors start the fall 2010 race season at the Slay the Dragon Regatta in the Woodlands, TX.   Leaving Austin at 4 AM on October 16, 32 novices travel to their first regatta ever!  Arriving in the Woodlands, the novice girls quickly rig their boats and try to wake up for the first event of the day, the novice girl’s quad.  All five boats successful make it to the start and through the bridge for the 4,000 meter race.  Racing is tight and all the boats pull together for a successful first race.  The ARC juniors sweep the awards stand and finish overall 1,2,3,5, and 6th.  Congratulations to Ashley E, Isabella S, Madeline, and Leah for winning the event.  

Next to race are the novice boys quads.  Novice boys have a chance to watch the girls race and improve on race strategies.  The boys look great coming through the bridge and have some very close race times.  The 3 quads finish a strong 4th, 5th, and 6th in the race.  The best race time from the juniors is from the foursome of Joe, Ben, Michael R, and David.

Final race of the day is the mixed novice quad.  This is a fun race and another opportunity to gain race experience and for the boys and girls squads to get to know each other.  The juniors finish an impressive 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 8th in the event.  Congratulations to Joe, Victoria, Michael R, and Anna for the best placement in the race for ARC.  Tired from a full day the kids load up the trailer and board the bus back to Austin.  All the boats did great in their first race ever!  The juniors next regatta will be October 30 at the Pumpkin Head regatta in Austin, TX.

Thanks to Claudia Colety for great photos of the team.  Full gallery of photos posted at:  smugmug

The “Rowing Stones” – our newest Club Crew

The newest ARC Club Crew is the Rowing Stones , formed from the June 2010 ITR Class.   Denise Michael is the boat captain, working hard to pull the crew together and fill the boat.   These enthusiastic new rowers go out on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6:30pm.  Most of them rowed in a novice crew in the Firecracker 500.    Their first official row was Monday, July 5th.

In the photo, left to right:

Thomas Wauahab, George Livingstone, Grace Foster, Kellie Benfer, Samantha Stork, Denise Michael, Patrick Pavlick, Virginia Andrus.  Missing from photo, Tiffany Willett.

Juniors to Row in College

The senior class of 2010 continue a strong tradition of being awarded scholarships to row in college.  Applying early decision, Sara Hyten was admitted to Columbia University.  Jake Martens has selected Syracuse and Susan Bartoletti signed with Old Dominion.  Planning to row for Division 3 programs Emily Glickman and Anna Weinstein-Perez will attend Smith College and Nikki Ulug will row at Lewis and Clark.  Congratulations to all seniors for their success both in the classroom and on the water.

Susan Bartoletti with her mother Karen at the St. Andrews signing day.