Norwalk River Rowing Association’s Chris Martensson and Kaare Andersen, the “Scandinavian Pair”, captured a silver medal in an exciting Under 19 2- event last week in the annual Club National Rowing Championships, in Bethel, Ohio.
More than 100 rowing clubs from around the country congregated at East Fork State Park, about 45 minutes east of Cincinnati, for the five-day regatta. Rowers had to contend with hail, choppy waters and thunderstorms, and then 90 degree heat and high humidity, punctuated by a period of beautiful balmy early-summer weather.
On the regatta’s first day, Chris and Kaare finished fourth in their 32-boat time trial. In Thursday’s semifinal, they finished first, beating second-place Saugatuck by 2.5 seconds.
In the grand final, with the sound of one lone Norwalk River cowbell clanging amid the cheers for other clubs, Chris and Kaare surged in the last 300 meters to pass Saugatuck and almost catch Sarasota, which took the gold with a time of 7:04.703. Norwalk River finished at 7:06.249, 1.5 seconds behind Sarasota and 0.3 seconds ahead of Saugatuck at 7:06.584.
Liam McDonough and Olivia Clark also represented Norwalk River at the regatta, in the men’s and women’s under 19 1X.
An equipment malfunction put Liam out of medal contention after having the third best time at time trials and qualifying for the grand final in his semifinal.
After finishing second in the time trials, Olivia finished first in her semifinal but could not advance to the grand final because her boat was found to be underweight.
Next up for the Youth Team is the Philly Youth Regatta July 25th, and then the 133rd Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, in St. Catharines, Ontario, in August!
Chris and Kaare with their medals
Chris, Kaare, Liam and Olivia, at Club Nats
Chris and Kaare head out for their U19 pair final.
