Congratulations to the Norwalk River Rowing Association’s Youth Team for an impressive performance at the Independence Day Regatta earlier this month. Led by Coach Yuri Kolomiets, NRRA sent two dozen athletes to the regatta and came home with a gold and two silver medals along with strong showings in numerous other events.
The regatta, held annually on the historic Schuykill River course, consisted of time trials, heats, semifinals and finals, so athletes were on the water numerous times throughout the two days.
Norwalk River’s gold medal was captured by Olivia Clark, who won the Women’s Junior 1X, finishing 2.02 seconds ahead of the second place boat. Gillian Castro and Amanda Lawrence also competed in the event; Gillian finished third in her semi-final and sixth overall.
In the Men’s Junior 1X, Liam McDonough won a silver medal, just 3.6 seconds out of first place.
The Norwalk River boat of Oliver Peacock, Matt Rauccio, Kevin Lenihan and Zach Johnston won a silver medal in the Men’s Junior 16 4x, and like Liam finished just 3.6 seconds behind the first-place boat. All four rowers also competed in the Men’s Junior 16 1X.
Natalie Partlow advanced to the final in the Women’s Junior 16 1X, finishing sixth. Natalie also teamed with Savannah Driscoll, and Jessica Magnoli teamed with Jacqueline Yeranossian, to race in the Women’s Junior 16 2X.
Zach Johnston had a busy couple of days. In addition to rowing on the silver-medal Men’s Junior 16 4X team and in the 1X event, Zach and his mother, Heidi Johnston, raced in the Mother-Son 2X.
Three boats raced in the Men’s Intermediate 2-: Brian Helms and Greg Bauerfeld, Chris Martensson and Kaare Andersen, and Dane Crameri and Ross Cagenello.
Brian and Greg, and Chris and Kaare qualified for the semis but scratched in order to compete together in the Men’s Junior 4+, with Jamie Fagan as coxswain. They missed qualifying for the finals by 1.4 seconds.
The team of Liz Sadrakula, Jessica Magnoli, Jacqueline Yeranossian and Savannah Driscoll, with Sam Shulman as coxswain, raced in the Women’s Junior 4+.
Brad Spiewak teamed with Ryan Purdy, and Gates Arnold teamed with Ethan Reichgut to race in the Men’s Junior 16 2X. All four then combined to race together in the Men’s Junior 16 4X.
The junior racing team also competed recently in the Club National Championships, July 15-19, in Bethel, Ohio, and is sending numerous athletes to the Philly Youth Regatta on July 25. We’ll report on those soon!
