Hello Youth Racing Team Athletes and Parents,
Mercer Lake Sprints/ISA Sculling Championships is around the corner!
Dates: Friday, April 18, 2014 (for select Varsity only)
Saturday, April 19, 2014 (for all athletes)
Event Type: Sprint 1500m (1st Varsity 8+, LWT 8+, 1st Varsity 4+, and Varsity 4x events have
1500m heats, 2000m finals)
LOC: Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA)
Venue: Mercer Lake, Richard Coffee Mercer County Park, West Windsor, NJ
GPS address: 1638 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, NJ 08550. While this is the GPS address provided by the LOC, be advised to cross-reference with driving directions below!
Coaches and Coxswains Meetings:
- Friday, April 18: 3:45 pm
- Saturday, April 19: 6:45 am
Course Map: is not published online. There will be a large map on display at the venue.
Racing Begins:
- Friday, April 19: 5:00 pm
- Saturday, April 20: 8:00 am
2014 Preliminary Racing Schedule: click here. The LOC can change the schedule at any time.
Live Results: will be sent out over Twitter @rowpnra.
This weekend involves two separate travel plans. Please read carefully:
- Friday: select Varsity athletes who have already been identified by their coach will travel to Mercer Lake to compete in small boats on Friday, April 18th. Those athletes will travel under their own separate, personal itinerary.
- Saturday: all other athletes will travel to Mercer Lake on Saturday on chartered coach buses. You must arrive at the boathouse on Saturday morning, April 19, no later than4:15 am. The buses will leave promptly at 4:30 am with or without you! The buses will NOT stop on the way to the race course. Please provide your athlete with sufficient food and drink for the ride and a period of time after arrival. Parent volunteers will make food/drink available at the parent tent as soon as they are able. Food for athletes is free of charge, and for parents/friends for a contribution of $10 per person.
- ALL athletes are expected to return to Norwalk on the bus after racing concludes on Saturday. Exceptions are rare, and must be cleared by your coach, and communicated to the bus chaperones. Buses WILL make a food stop on the NJ Turnpike on the way home. Please provide your athlete with sufficient funds to cover this. Expect the buses to return to the boathouse at or before 10:00pm. It is procedure for athletes to call parents when the buses are 30 minutes away from our boathouse. Bus chaperones are required to wait until all athletes have been picked up so please be on time for pick up!
We hope your weekend plans include attending the regatta to cheer on our rowers. Please allow sufficient time for driving, parking, and walking to the team tents area. Once you arrive you should look for Norwalk’s parent tent. There’ll be plenty of parents, athletes and coaches to guide you to the best viewing spots for races.
Directions to Mercer County Park from Connecticut:
- I-95 South
- Cross George Washington Bridge. Follow signs to NJ Turnpike/I-95. (Alternative: I-287, Tappan Zee Bridge, Garden State Parkway to NJ Turnpike.)
- New Jersey Turnpike, heading south, take Exit 8 for Hightstown.
- After toll, follow the sign for “Hightstown Route 130.”
- Follow the road into Hightstown until it comes to a “T” (Hightstown Fire Dept. in front of you).
- Take left at light onto Main St.
- Follow Rt. 33/Mercer St. up the hill for about 1 mile (pass Home Depot on left).
- At the junction of Rt. 33 West and Rt. 130 (traffic light) veer left.
- Follow Rt. 33/130 for a short time until first light.
- Take right onto Hankins Rd. (drive about two miles).
- Take left onto Old Trenton Rd. (at the traffic light).
- Follow Old Trenton Rd. (go through traffic light at Edinburgh Rd.).
- The entrance to Mercer County Park, Paxson Avenue, is about 1/2 mile on right after Edinburgh Rd, and is roughly 600 feet short of the GPS address above.
- Do not go all the way to the GPS address. Instead, make a right onto Paxson Avenue, and follow the road for about 1/2 mile until you see regatta parking volunteers.
You’ll be asked for a parking contribution. In the past it has been $10 per car.
Lineups will be announced by coaches when they are final. As always, lineups are at coaches’ discretion.
See you in Mercer!
Norwalk River Rowing
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