CREWSREEL
News and Updates
December 2012
Welcome back to CREWSREEL! We’re hoping to make this your first stop to catch up with news, info updates and life in general at our fantastic club.
Submit your all news and update items to ablaze100@gmail.com
WHAT’S UP DOCK?
Next Regattas: (Click on links below to find information and details about upcoming regatta!)
Youth Racing Team
Regatta Winter/Spring Schedule 2013
Norwalk River Rowing Takes On ‘The Charles’
With over 9,000 competitors from 48 countries The Head Of The Charles in Boston, MA, is the world’s largest rowing event of its kind – It’s quite an achievement just to qualify for this 4.2 kilometer race.
Norwalk River Rowing sent 5 boats representing athletes from across the full spectrum of its members from 16 year old Juniors to Master rowers that included an octogenarian!
Conditions were bright and breezy, or more accurately..., windy, so maximum effort and concentration was needed. Here’s how they fared;
Womens Junior 4+ (High School)
Our girls were out in their brand new Vespoli and rowed it for all it was worth. They managed our best result of the day – a spectacular 12th out of 85 of the best crews in the USA and beyond!
Congratulations to Julia Barr, Amanda Jenkins, Kylie O’Connor, Madeleine Appuzzo and coxswain Caroline Arnold – and to NRRA Womens Youth Head Coach, Catharine Labine.
Mens Junior 4+ (High School)
The boys too were up against a very strong field of 85 top crews from the USA and Canada. They also achieved a great result, coming in 19th place.
Congratulations to David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski, Chad Ballard, Joseph Blake and coxswain Frankie Hogan and to NRRA Mens Youth Head Coach, Yuri Kolomiets.
These results for Norwalk River’s Junior rowers mean that both Mens and Womens crews have qualified for next year’s Head Of The Charles, placing them firmly amongst the best rowers in the USA.
Women’s Senior Masters 1x (40+)
Norwalk River’s Juliet Brocki had to scratch from last year’s Head Of The Charles due to a torn ACL just a few prior to the competition. But she healed and trained to come back this year – not among the winners but hey, she finished. Great job Juliet!
Women’s Club 4+
In a category where most boats have an average age between 19-30, this boat was the oldest average age (47), and yet pulled a very respectable 39th out of 46, beating several younger boats.
Well done Elisabeth Stonehill, Laura Allen, Terri Polley, Hiromi Imai-Dellario and coxswain: Colleen Magarian
Men’s Senior Masters 8+ (50+ age group)
Actually Norwalk River Rowing’s boat was really quite close to average age 60 – We think Bill “The Hawk” Hawkey now over 80 yrs old pushed up the number somewhat! Congratulations to Phil Negus, Bill Hawkey, Tom Helmkamp, Tim Hood (his first HOCR), Alex Chapman, Ford Smith, Don. Loomis, Tom Luz and coxswain Malcolm Watson.
NRRA Masters Coach was Kimberly Weber.
NORWALK RIVER ROWING WINS 9 MEDALS FOR MASTERS, JUNIORS AND NOVICES!
| Gold for Mens Novice 4x | Silver Medal for the Womens Jr 4+ |
Gold for Mens Jr 4+ |
|---|---|---|
Will Kauffman, |
Kylie O'Connor |
Stefan Petreski |
Jack McDermott |
Amanda Jenkins |
Martin Martensson |
Charlie Cragin |
Julia Barr |
Joseph Blake |
Tanner Polo |
Madeleine Appuzzo |
David Sullivan |
cox Caroline Arnold |
cox Frank Hogan |
The annual Head of the Riverfront regatta in Hartford had crews from all over the region competing for honors this weekend, with Norwalk River Rowing Association fielding boats from all sectors of their club and achieving great results across the board.
Norwalk River’s Masters were first in action with Don Loomis winning the Gold Medal in the Veteran Mens 1x event. This was followed by a Silver for Juliet Brocki in the Master Women 1x and a Bronze for the Masters Mens 4x crewed by Tom Luz, Don Loomis, Ford Smith and Phil Negus.
Norwalk River Novices T.D Molina and C. Krogh achieved Silver and Bronze respectively in the Jr Novice 1x event; the Novices then went on to ‘complete the cycle’ by winning Gold in the Mens Jr Novice 4x event with the crew of Will Kauffman, Jack McDermott, Charlie Cragin and Tanner Polo.
A closely fought Mens Jr 4+ race saw Norwalk River Rowing narrowly beat SECRC to win the Gold Medal for the crew of David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski, Martin Martensson, Joseph Blake and coxswain F. Hogan.
Norwalk River Rowing’s girls backed up their recent win at the GMS regatta with another strong showing; The crew of Madeleine Appuzzo, Julia Barr, Amanda Jenkins, Kylie O’Connor and cox Caroline Arnold taking the Silver Medal in the Womens Jr 4+.
James Koenigsberg and Chad Ballard furthered their club’s success by winning the Silver Medal in the Mens Jr 2x bringing Norwalk River’s tally for the day to 3 Gold Medals, 4 Silvers and 2 Bronze!
Norwalk’s Head Novice Coach and Master’s coach Kimberly Weber comments: It was very satisfying to coach our Masters and our Novices at the same event…and pretty cool to see both groups doing so well.
Catharine Labine, NRRA’s Head Womens Jr Coach noted that her girls seem to be going from strength to strength : “ In a highly competitive event my girls once again proved that they are among the very best in the region”.
Yuri Kolomiets, Norwalk River Rowing Head Mens Jr Coach expressed his admiration for his Gold Medal winning Mens Jr 4+ crew who had all suffered from flu symptoms the previous week and had missed a lot of training in the run up to Sunday’s race, saying: “They showed great spirit and determination.”
ADIOS FERNANDO ERNESTO MOSCOSO IDIAQUEZ!
We're used to people coming from far and wide to join coach Yuri's brilliant Summer Racing program but have to admit that getting a recruit from Peru was a bit out of the ordinary. It's been our pleasure to have Fernando as one of our group and we hope he takes back fond memories of us along with some added rowing skills......and maybe a shorter nickname:)
WEBER GRILLING RESULTS IN HOT JOB...
WE ARE PLEASED AND EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE KIMBERLY WEBER AS OUR NEW MASTERS AND BOYS NOVICE COACH!
While a graduate student at UConn, Kim began her coaching career at Riverfront Recapture in Hartford, CT in the fall of 2011. She served as an ...assistant coach, working primarily with the girls’ novice team. Kim then transitioned to working with collegiate rowers, coaching the UConn Men’s Crew Team. She became the head coach for the 2012 spring season.
Kim began rowing at Norwalk River Rowing in 2005 and quickly developed a love for the sport. She received the most valuable rower award and served as co-captain in 2007. Kim continued rowing in college at UConn and served as co-captain her senior year. She received Bachelor’s degrees in history, education, and a Master’s Degree in education.
CONGRATS CATHARINE!
The Board of Directors are delighted and proud to announce Catharine Labine as Head Coach of our Junior Women’s Racing Team.
Catharine is entering her 4th year as a coach with Norwalk River Rowing. She started as Assistant Coach for the Junior Women, providing land training and went on to continue coaching for our Development team, Community Challenge and Varsity boys.
Most recently, she has been head of the Novice Boys program, a crew of 22, helping to grow the program and coaching all of them to a place in the finals at the Northeast Youth District Championships. This summer she has had the opportunity to coach a number of the Norwalk Girls in our Summer Racing Program.
Catharine has been a Masters rower since 2008. In 2010 and 2011, she was part of crews with strong showings at the Head of the Charles, as well as Gold medal finishes at Head of the Passaic and Head of the Schuylkill this past fall. In her time at Norwalk River Rowing, Catharine has developed a strong background in rowing and coaching; she has also earned the distinction of being admitted to the USRowing Referee Corp with an Assistant Referee License, having refereed at Youth Nationals and Club Nationals this year.
Catharine has expressed her understanding and strong support of the NRRA mission. It is her conviction that girls who are passionate about rowing should be provided the opportunity, and be supported at all levels of the organization, so they may achieve their goals. She knows that success on the racecourse is perhaps one of our best recruiting tools, but that there is room and opportunity for athletes of all abilities.
Yuri Kolomiets, who continues as the Head Coach of the Junior Men's team, will be working closely with Catharine to coordinate the overall Youth Program.
Please join us in welcoming and congratulating Catharine on her exciting new role.
QUICK AT QUINSIGAMOND....
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MASTERS RACERS!
Nine of our Masters competed at the 2012 US Rowing Masters Nationals Regatta at Lake Quinsigamond and they have the silver(and bronze)ware to prove it. Congrats to all!
ROW CANADA
A GREAT TEAM EFFORT BRINGS SUCCESS IN CANADA
For the climax of our highly successful summer season we headed up to Canada for the prestigious Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharine’s, Ontario.
Being the 130th anniversary event f...or this major international regatta, this year’s ‘Henley’ attracted top teams from all over Canada and the USA, as well as from Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico.
During a week of highly competitive racing the Norwalk River crews put up excellent performances across the board; making it through to many semi-finals over a range of events.
The week culminated with Norwalk River Rowing fielding its first ever Henley finalists, as rowers David Sullivan, Matthew Koenigsberg, Joseph Blake, Stefan Petreski and coxswain Daniel Goodman powered through the heats and semis to win their spot in the U19 Mens 4+ final, eventually finishing a very creditable sixth out of 56 competitors.
Yuri Kolomiets, Norwalk River’s Head Men’s Youth Coach, comments, “Following a Spring Season which saw Norwalk River Rowing get a record number of boats to the US Rowing Club Nationals it is satisfying to see that we can also compete successfully at an international level.”
Catharine Labine, Norwalk River’s Junior Women’s Head Coach adds, “The commitment and spirit shown here by our young men and women was really special and bodes well for our future“
NRRA crew at Royal Canadian Henley:
Madeleine Apuzzo, Charles Ballard, Julia Barr, Joseph Blake, Ryan Cunningham, Caroline Demko
Daniel Goodman, Luke Goodwin, Amanda Jenkins, Matthew Koenigsberg, Ronan Lane
Marten Martensson, Jon Massari, Peter Mueller, Kylie O’Connor, Stefan Petreski, Alexandra Stonehill
David Sullivan, Willem Taverna, Margaret Walsh, Emma Webb, Vishesh Ramesh.
OUR GIRLS WIN GOLD AT CLUB NATIONALS!
Caroline Demko and Alex Stonehill
Despite the heat and humidity which were ever present along with the rain showers and thunderstorms at the weekend our athletes, coaches and parents enjoyed 5 days of exciting racing at Club Nationals. Many of our rowers made it through to semis and finals but for the first time this season medals were hard to come by... until Sunday when Caroline Demko and Alex Stonehill stepped up in spectacular fashion to win the Gold in the Womens 2-. Congratulations girls!
First job at Club Nationals was to put up the tent and hang our new 'Sponsors Banner'. We will be displaying it at our upcoming regattas to show our appreciation to all the generous people and corporations that help us with our mission.
Many thanks to Virginia Atkinson, Paula Mikesh and GWAY for the design and printing of our new banner.
MASTERS BULLETIN
Masters Racing – having just returned from participating in the Carnegie Lake Regatta (NRRA brought home several prestigious 2nd place finishes) most of us were struck by what a “fun” experience it was. Paddling out to the starting line – listening to the starting referees align boats - sprinting off the line as the umpire’s flag dropped starting the race – hearing the crowd shriek as you approached the red-buoyed final 250 meters - and – finally the sound of the finish-line horn signifying the end of the race.. . . . all this pumped you up . . priming you for . . . .the rowers Holy Grail . . . THE LAKERS LUNCH!!! (Hyperbole aside . . a true gastronomic mother-load of salads, pastas, hamburgers, hot-dogs, melons, blueberries and endless brownies, cookies, etc. etc).
Moral of the story? . .. . Ya Gotta go next year!! Too much fun . . and a way for all of us to come together, enjoy our sport, get better, go faster . . and tell taller and taller tales to family and friends about our heroic rowing exploits.
We missed out this year. Amidst all the pandemonium surrounding coaching etc. etc, we lost sight of this fundamental – HOW MUCH FUN RACING CAN BE!!!! Next year, ALL of us should consider attending 2 or 3 summer races – Derby Sweeps and Sculls; Carnegie Lake; and possibly even Diamond States in DE.
That said, we should plan ahead for the fall and aim at participating in some of the Head races. There are several in our immediate area. We’ll discuss at our forthcoming “Fun on the Slab” evening – August 2nd.
Holly Metcalf Rowing Seminar – as has been mentioned already, we have contacted the Women’s Head Coach at MIT – Holly Metcalf, about repeating a weekend rowing seminar she held here in Norwalk several years ago. She is available and, if we can generate enough interest, is willing to offer another seminar early this fall. Holly responded as follows to our inquiry earlier this year giving the following details:
What seems to work best is a day and a half--a Saturday and half of Sunday. One day works as well as I know how busy people are. The price for 11/2 days is $150 and $100 for one day. I would need at least a group of 8 people.
We could row 3x on Saturday with 2 video reviews; or 2 rows, 1 video review, and 1 on land session that combines erg, props, weights that help people locate muscles (versus weight lifting and how to do it). The 3rd option has lots of benefits depending on how many people we are talking about. Sunday would be 2 rows with one video review between. Date September 8th (and 9th).
We should have more details to follow but the weekend would include several on-water sessions, video analysis, weight lifting training and more. A good opportunity to expand your skills, improve your on-the-water performance and . . have fun with your rowing colleagues. Another topic for discussion on August 2nd.
Super Slab Supper – where the elite, meet, to eat. Mark your calender for Thursday August 2nd and a fun evening together on the slab. Sarah Klein, organizer of the event, will provide more details shortly but a pot-luck dinner is forecast – with everyone pitching in to make the evening memorable. We will deal with a few rowing-related issues (see points 1, 2, and 3 above) but then get down to the serious business of . . . . partying.
Best to all
Masters Committee
HOW D'YOU GET TO CARNEGIE LAKE?
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
Congrats to our Masters on a fine showing at the Carnegie Lake Masters Regatta this weekend.
Results (each heat is a final – so if there were two women’s doubles heats, there were 2 golds awarded. No silver or bronze awarded):
Women’s 2x – 2nd (Laura Allen, Elisabeth Stonehill)
Men’s 4+ - 2nd (Don Loomis, Ford Smith, Bob Walker, Phil Negus, Malcolm Watson-cox)
Men’s 4x – 3rd (Don Loomis, Ford Smith, Bob Walker, Phil Negus)
Mixed 4x – 3rd (Laura Allan, Bob Walker, Elisabeth Stonehill, Phil Negus)
Summer Youth Programs 2012
Our Summer Youth Program has been a HUGE success with lots of returning athletes as well as brand new Learn-To-Rowers! So many of our newbies have been bitten by the crew bug, they have not only signed up for Fast Track and Crew Camp, but can’t wait to join The Development and Racing Teams this fall!
Today our Learn-To-Row group split into fours and did some 250 meter races with their coaches, Ben and Matt coxing--what a blast! I can’t believe we only have 2 weeks left—I guess time does fly when you’re having fun!
WE MET THE CHALLENGE!
What a great Community Challenge! Thanks to all who helped make it such a success. Coach Debbie Smith was our Regatta Director; our staff Coaches Catharine Labine, and Jim 'Coop' Cooper were on hand along with Office Operations manager Tony Tabb and our wonderful team of young coaches: Diana, Aiden , Mark, Harrison, Ben and Clark. Apologies to anyone we've left out! A host of club members and friends chipped in to complete this combined effort. Also we'd like to thank all of our amazing participants who have spent the last couple of months training with us and racing today. At some point in the near future there will be kids out on the Norwalk River enjoying our great sport, only because of your hard work and generosity. Hopefully many of you will take advantage of our Learn to Row programs and be able to see some of them for yourselves!
THREE GOLD MEDALS IN PHILADELPHIA!
Good things came in three’s for Norwalk River Rowing at this weekend’s Philadelphia Independence Day Regatta. Over 3 days of exciting racing amongst some of the top clubs in the nation they managed a haul of 3 Gold medals. Norwalk River also captured 4 Silver and 3 Bronze medals, building onto this spring season’s success with their summer racing program under coaches Yuri Kolomiets and Catharine Labine.
There were many stand-out performances but a particularly poignant event was the Womens Junior 4+ Final. Among Norwalk River’s crew were Alex Stonehill and Caroline Demko who had both recently been involved in a very scary ‘wrong way driver’ car crash on their way to ‘Nationals’. The accident had left them both injured and unable to complete their event in Tennessee – although they did give it a brave try.
In Philly their team mate Kylie O’Connor was also making her first return to competition after a lengthy illness, so imagine this trio’s delight when along with fellow crew members Julia Barr and cox Vishesh Ramesh, they won the Silver for Norwalk River!
The Demko family enjoyed an especially nice day, as Caroline and her father also won Gold in the Father Daughter 2x. An exciting Mens Junior 16 2x Final saw Chad Ballard and James Koenigsberg take the Gold Medal and rounding off another successful outing for Norwalk River Rowing, the Mens Junior 4+ Gold Medal was won by a boat which is becoming much talked about in the North-East; the crew consisting of David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski, Kyle Mikesh, Matt Koenigsberg and cox Ronan Lane.
Here are the full results for Norwalk River Rowing’s finalists and semi-finalists: Race 12S2: Womens Junior 4x Semi-Final 2 @ 09:42 AM
6th 6 Norwalk River (J.Barr, A.Jenkins, C.Demko, A.Stonehill) 08:17.06 Race 14S2: Mens Junior 16 1x Semi-Final 2 @ 09:52 AM
4th 2 Norwalk River (C.Ballard) 08:21.94
Race 15S2: Mens Junior 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 10:02 AM
4th 1 Norwalk River (J.Blake, W.Taverna) 07:26.99
Race 15S3: Mens Junior 2x Semi-Final 3 @ 10:07 AM
2nd 3 Norwalk River (K.Mikesh, S.Petreski) 07:23.27
Race 18S2: Womens Junior 4+ Semi-Final 2 @ 10:27 AM
2nd 5 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko, K.OConnor, J.Barr, [V.Ramesh]) 07:55.65
Race 25S2: Mens Junior 16 4x Semi-Final 2 @ 10:47 AM
4th 6 Norwalk River A (J.Koenigsberg, C.Ballard, K.Petreski, L.McDonough) 07:22.68
Race 29S1: Mens Junior 4+ Semi-Final 1 @ 11:02 AM
2nd 3 Norwalk River A (D.Sullivan, S.Petreski, K.Mikesh, M.Koenigsberg, [R.Lane]) 07:13.28
Race 41S2: Womens Junior 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 11:32 AM
6th 6 Norwalk River (A.Jenkins, J.Barr) 08:52.00
Race 42S2: Mens Junior 16 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 11:47 AM
1st 3 Norwalk River (C.Ballard, J.Koenigsberg) 07:38.18
Race 40b: Mens Inter. Light 4x Heat 2 @ 01:35 PM
3rd 5 Norwalk River
(J.Massari, P.Mueller, N.Massari, J.Blake) 07:03.01
Race 6: Father/daughter 2x (1000m) Final @ 02:57 PM
1st 4 Norwalk River (M.Demko, C.Demko) 04:22.97
Race 15: Mens Junior 2x Final @ 03:33 PM
3rd 6 Norwalk River (K.Mikesh, S.Petreski) 07:14.69
Race 18: Womens Junior 4+ Final @ 03:48 PM
2nd 2 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko, K.OConnor, J.Barr, [V.Ramesh]) 08:04.36
Race 29: Mens Junior 4+ Final @ 04:43 PM
1st 5 Norwalk River A (D.Sullivan, S.Petreski, K.Mikesh, M.Koenigsberg, [R.Lane]) 06:55.93
Race 42: Mens Junior 16 2x Final @ 06:21 PM
2nd 4 Norwalk River (C.Ballard, J.Koenigsberg) 07:33.46
Race 62b: Womens 2- Heat 2 @ 09:00 AM
3rd 1 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko) 08:52.93
David Sullivan Matt Koenigsberg Kyle Mikesh Stefan Petreski
Alex Stonehill Caroline Demko Julia Barr Kylie O'Connor
LAID BACK ROWERS
Liam McDonough and Kris Petreski
MEDALFEST!
Norwalk River Rowing Win 5 Golds at the Festival Regatta!
Following a strong showing at the Nationals in Tennessee, Norwalk River Rowing got their summer racing season underway with some excellent performances at the weekend’s Festival Regatta in Lowell, MA.
Norwalk River again showed that they have strength in depth; winning 5 Gold Medals and achieving 5 second places and a number of third places.
Norwalk River Rowing Results from Festival Regatta:
Race 12a: Mixed 2x Flight @ 09:20 AM
1st Norwalk River B (Kyle Mikesh, Julia Barr) 07:30.70 07:30.70
2nd Norwalk River A (Amanda Jenkins, Stefan Petreski) 07:50.44 4.4% 07:50.44 00:00:19.74
Race 14a: Mens Jr 4+ Flight 1 @ 09:40 AM
1st Norwalk River (J. Koenigsberg, Joseph Blake, Madox Hussey, Vishesh Ramesh) 07:06.09 07:06.09
Race 15b: Mens 2- Flight 2 @ 10:10 AM
2nd Norwalk River (David Sullivan, Matt Koenigsberg) 07:07.29 0.0% 07:07.29 00:00:00.10
Race 17d: Mens Open 1x Flight 4 @ 11:10 AM
3rd Norwalk River (Jon Massari) 08:12.98
Race 24a: Mens Jr 8+ Flight @ 12:20 PM
1st Norwalk River (Vishesh Ramesh, Ronan Lane, Ryan Solecki, Brian Helms, Liam McDonough, Matt Koenigsberg, Luke Goodwin, Kristofer Petreski, David Sullivan) 06:49.75
Race 26a: Mens Jr 1x Flight 1 @ 01:00 PM
2nd Norwalk River A (Madox. Hussey) 07:59.60
3rd Norwalk River B (Joseph Blake) 08:08.75
Race 26b: Mens Jr 1x Flight 2 @ 01:10 PM
3rd Norwalk River C (Brian Helms) 09:14.85
4th Norwalk River D (Ryan Solecki)
Race 27a: Womens Jr 1x Flight @ 01:20 PM
3rd Norwalk River (Emma Webb) 09:09.04
Race 31a: Mens 4x Flight @ 02:00 PM
Exhib Norwalk River (Jon Massari, Peter Mueller, Madox Hussey, Willem Taverna) Late start – Actual time 6.58.17
Race 34a: Mens Jr 2x Flight 1 @ 02:30 PM
1st Norwalk River A (Stefan Petreski , Kyle Mikesh) 07:10.59
2nd Norwalk River B (James Koenigsberg, Chad Ballard) 07:20.51
Race 34b: Mens Jr 2x Flight 2 @ 02:40 PM
1st Norwalk River C (Luke Goodwin, Ronan Lane) 08:08.75
3rd Norwalk River D (Kris Petreski, Liam Mcdonough) 08:23.73
Race 35a: Womens Jr 2x Flight @ 02:50 PM
2nd Norwalk River (Amanda Jenkins, Julia Barr) 08:20.80
Amanda Jenkins and Julia Barr
Emma Webb
Coach Catharine Labine and Novices
WE NAME THIS BOAT......
Jim Cooper aka 'Coop' is a long -time coach and equipment manager at Norwalk River Rowing...it seems he is also our resident boat-wright too! Recently Coop constructed this sculling 8 from some of our scrapped shells. Not only is it a very rare craft but it is proving invaluable to our youth and adult Learn-to-Row programs. We proudly name this boat OCTCOOPLE.
FROM COACH DEBBIE SMITH:
Here's an inspirational story about how women fought the system for title IX to be implemented, and persevered against all odds for what they believed in-- their pure passion of the sport. Women rowers of today have them to thank. As an aside I rowed at New Haven Rowing Club alongside Chris Ernst, which is to say, I happened to be rowing there, fresh out of college, when she was training there. A former Olympian at the time, I was in awe. She took no notice of me, but I listened in the locker room as she and others spoke of those times, and I watched her on the water -- her laser focus. She did not have the "typical" physique of a rower, short in stature, not long limbed, but she was all muscle and grit and desire. She stood 4 or 5 inches shorter than me, but was an intimidating presence. Just goes to show you that you don't need to have the cookie-cutter rower's body to be an amazing rower-- passion and hard work is really what it takes.
www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/06/16/former-yale-rower-chris-ernst-honored-for-forcing-changes-women-athletics/67fjt0fIH8lJ6Oy3bE7KmL/story.html
THE MASTERS ARE AT IT AGAIN!
This just in from Laura Allen:
Thanks to all who rowed last Friday at 6:00! It was great to have so many people attend! Based on the enthusiasm after our 6:00am row last week, we will doing it again this week. Please arrive five minutes early so we can start making lineups and assigning boats.
See you then!
Laura
NATIONALS UPDATE!
Our rowers have excelled on Day 1 of The Nationals!! We have 3 boats winning their heat and one coming 2nd.
Mens Ltwt Youth 2x Heat -3
1st place – Stefan Petreski, Kyle Mikesh
Mens Youth 2- Heat 2
1st Place - Matt Koenigsberg, David Sullivan
Mens Youth 2- Heat 4
2nd Place John Massari,Alex Nicholl
Mens Ltwt Youth 4+
1st Place – David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski,Kyle Mikesh,Matt Koenigsberg, cox Matt Stout.
Special mention for Alex Stonehill and Caroline Demko who were lucky to walk out of a serious car crash en route to Nationals on Wednesday night. Although feeling pretty sore they both showed incredible spirit by attempting to race today - unfortunately their injuries prevented them from finishing. Girls, we hope you are as proud of yourselves as we are of you.
Summer Racing
The program will run from June 11th through August 17th , for 10 weeks. Practice will be Monday through Friday, twice a day; mornings 8:30 am – 10:30 am and afternoons 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm. There will be an optional Saturday practice on non-regatta days, from 8:30 am – 10:30 am.
FOR THE RECORD...
In an exciting climax to an excellent 2012 Spring Season, Norwalk River Rowing finished last weekend’s NE District Championships in Worcester MA with a club record as six crews win a place in the upcoming US Rowing National Finals.
It was a predictably hard fought contest in Worcester as the best teams from all over the North-East did battle to earn a spot in Youth Rowing’s premier national event which is to be held in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on June 8th, 9th, 10th.
NRRA President Lou Petreski comments: “Our results in the Regionals at Worcester are particularly gratifying as we achieved success right through our program – We have both male and female athletes winning places in the Nationals and our Novice teams performed at a really high level too. It’s wonderful to see that all the hard work from our rowers, coaches and staff this year has seen Norwalk River Rowing take back its rightful place among the best rowing clubs in the USA”.
Norwalk River Rowing Results from finals at NE District Championships
Semis/Heats
MNV4+ 3rd place Kris Petreski, Greg Bauerfeld,Ryan Solecki,Liam McDonough, cox: Vishesh Ramesh
MNV8+ 3rd place John Kaelin, Brian Helms,Marten Martensson,Campbell Marsh,Ryan Cuningham,Jack McDermott,Sid Fischman,Patrick Lyon,Cox: VisheshRamesh.
WV8+ 3rd place (Alex Stonehill,Julia Barr,Amanda Jenkins,Kylie O’Connor,Allison Hoffman,Emma Vergara,Madeleine Apuzzo,cox: Caroline Arnold.)
Finals
MVltwt 2x 2nd place (Stefan Petreski and Kyle Mikesh)
MV2x 4th place (Hugh Woodworth and Willem Taverna) qualified due to pre qualification by Narragansett
WV2- 4th place ( Alex Stonehill and Caroline Demko) qualified due to pre qualification by Saratoga
MV2- 1st place (David Sullivan and Matt Koenigsberg)
MV2- 3rd place (Jon Massari and Alex Nicholl)
MJV4+ 3rd place (Ronan Lane, Jens Salande, Ian Carlucci, Luke Goodwin.
MVltwt4+2nd place (D.Sullivan, S.Petreski, Kyle Mikesh, Mathew Koenigsberg, cox Matt Stout
WV8+ 4th place (Alex Stonehill,Julia Barr,Amanda Jenkins,Kylie O’Connor,Allison Hoffman,Emma Vergara,Madeleine Apuzzo,cox: Caroline Arnold).
OUR FIRST MEDALS!!! OUR LAST ROW TOGETHER : (
Norwalk River Rowing crews going to Nationals are as follows:
W2- Alexandra Stonehill and Caroline Demko
MLW4+ David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski, Kyle Mikesh, Mathew Koenigsberg and cox Matt Stout
M2- David Sullivan and Mathew Koenigsberg
M2- Jon Massari and Alex Nicholl
MLW2x Stefan Petreski and Kyle Mikesh
MV2x Hugh Woodworth and Willem Taverna
SPARE:Joseph Blake
COACHES: Girls: Bryan Pape - Boys: Yuri Kolomiets
GO NORWALK!!!GO NORWALK!!!GO NORWALK!!!
BYE BYE BRY...FAREWELL TO BRYAN PAPE
As some of you have already heard, our Head Girls Coach Bryan Pape is leaving us after he coaches our girls at the Nationals. After a short but highly successful stint here, Bryan will be moving on to fresh pastures. We would all like to thank him for his great work at Norwalk River Rowing and wish Bryan the very best for the future. We are in the process of interviewing candidates to fill Bryan’s large shoes and will report back on our progress.
Some of you may remember last summer and our Community Challenge. This summer it will be bigger and better than ever!
Practice starts on May 29th and the big Championship Day Regatta is Saturday, July 7th at NRRA. The regatta time will be determined by the tides, but it is tentatively scheduled for 1pm (meet up at noon).
WE NEED TEAMS AND PARTICIPANTS !!!!
For more details check the link above.
Cajole your colleagues at work, your neighbors, church group, etc, to join a team, get in shape, and have fun! This event can open doors to growing our club to levels unheard of before!
If you can volunteer for the event or have any questions,
please contact our event chairperson & masters' coach, Gabby Wakeman
Gabriella@norwalkriverrowing.org
SUMMER SCHOOL!
Coach Debbie Smith shows why so many people are choosing Norwalk River Rowing's Learn-to-Row program.
Step 1........A few pointers.
Step 2........final checks!
Step 3........you're on the water!
OUR YOUNG ROWERS ROCK!
Hi Everyone!
As we head into our final week of the spring season you should all be very proud of your young athletes. They have not only progressed immensely, but each of the groups have bonded as only a crew team can.
Crew requires every rower to up their game and work as one for the greater good of the entire team. This ethic is instilled from the moment your young athletes arrive at the club. How many rowers we have and if we have a coxwain determines what boat we row, getting the boat down from the racks and safely into the water requires the utmost cooperation and communication, carrying the oars and putting them into the boat and shoving off from the dock has to be done properly and in unison, requiring listening and promptly acting as one, as a team. And all of this is before they even take their 1st stroke! Then, while on the water they need to listen, concentrate and act as they are instructed, ignoring the many distractions from other coaches and crews on the water, birds flying by, motor boats, horns, bridges... On top of all that they need to remember all of the skills they have learned about their stroke, following precisely the rower in front of them, listening to their coxwain and coach as they are instructed to make adjustments. And trusting their teammates, coxwain and coach, so they don't feel the need to look around and lose focus.
In crew we work as one, there are no super stars. Everyone ups their game in the pursuit of moving the boat with precision and ultimately speed. When it all comes together, 8 rowers and 1 coxwain, listening, acting, feeling, rowing hard, the boat seems to fly through the water effortlessly -- there is no better feeling. Your young rowers have experienced that feeling and they have worked very hard this season to achieve it. We are so proud of every one of them!
We hope they will sign up for the summer session and continue on their path to better rowing, trying out smaller boats, sculling and deepening their love for the sport and their relationships with their fellow teammates. I know for me, my crew buddies are my friends for life-- my dearest friend rowed the seat behind me in college 30 yrs ago!
Coach Debbie and Coach Coop
MASTERS BULLETIN
1. Regattas . . . following please find a list of regattas we can consider attending this Spring and Summer. Some have expressed an interest in racing while others prefer participating only in the Fall Head Races. It would be helpful if we could advise Gabriella what our interests are as soon as possible. This allows her to calibrate work-outs to prepare us properly. Here are some races to consider:
• 9 June Derby Sweeps and Sculls, Shelton CT
• 29 June - 1 July Independence Day Regatta, Philadelphia PA
• 9 - 12 August - Masters Nationals (Lake Quinsaggamund, MA)
• Date Uncertain - Carnegie Lake Regatta
• 6 - 9 September - Masters Worlds, Duisburg, Germany
If there are other regattas you would like to add/bring to our attention, please do so. Any interest in reviving participation at Diamond States Regatta in Delaware this summer?
2. Fun - always good to have fun . . . and if we PLAN for it, it may actually happen. Sarah Kline, our designated "Fun" person has suggested a Thursday evening for "a Wine/Beer & Appetizer party for us Masters (who deserves it more than us????!!!) on May 31st (likely date but to be confirmed). Format to be decided but possibly BYOB and share appetizers plus bring a chair. Other ideas?
3. Hi-Visibility
Gabby made the suggestion that A.M. rowers avoid dark clothing. As part of an effort to be friendly with tug boats, other crews on the river, it would go a long way if all of us were more visible - especially blind boats such as singles, doubles and quads. So, the suggestion is to seriously consider wearing bright, hi visibility colors such as yellow, red, orange etc.
4. Safety
a) We need to review safety procedures as a whole. But in particular we will ask that each Master rower review the US Rowing Safety Video. We will investigate putting this on-line and asking each master to review and then sign off electronically. More to come on this one.
b) Flipping in single scull
Several scullers have expressed a desire for an on-the-water session that would demonstrate for rowers that flip, how to get back in your boat. Water is currently a bit cold for such a session nowadays but we should consider offering such a class in late May/early June. Stay tuned.
4. FundRaising - New Equipment
We can all be proud of the effort many in our club, imcluding Board Members, have made, and continue to make to raise funds to help improve our clubs operations and equipent. Additionally, as you know, the Youth Parents successfully organized and held the Event "Crews-ing for Gold" . Between hotly-contested auctions, ticket sales etc they raised approximately $17K for the night. A good contingent of masters (10) attended this first-ever edition and we look forward to seeing this grow next year. All told, so far this year some $47,845.88 have been raised. So . . . there you are . . a sucessful launch of NRR in 2012. We all need to get behind this event next year and create an even bigger success. Besides, it was fun.
Significantly, all of the recent fundraising has allowed the club to purchase a brand new Resolute 4 plus a Wintech 2X. A possible additional purchase of a new 4x is also being looked into. More soon.
5. Community Challenge - planning is now well underway for this year's Community Challenge, a program designed to introduce rowing to adults here in the Norwalk area. Details on this exciting program are available on our website. The program will start Tuesday May 29th and conclude with a regatta where participating teams will compete in 4's and eights on Saturday July 7th here on our river in front of our Virtual Boathouse.
6. NRR Goes to New Haven for scrimmage with New Haven Rowing Club - this past Sunday a NRR men's eight met at the NHRC boathouse (envy, envy) for a friendly scrimmage versus a NHRC men's eight as well as a mixed NHRC eight. NRR learned (once again) the importance of slide control as the younger NHRC men's crew edged our veterans over most of the one and two minute pieces. Nonetheless, it was a useful experience to measure ourselves versus other crews . . . . Hopefully Gabby's "On the Prowl" drill which emphasized what else but . . . slide control. Our compliments to our friendly competitors at New Haven who offered us a great breakfast afterwards. Next time we hope our NRR women will be able to participate. There is some talk of a repeat - perhaps next time here in Norwalk at the end of May.
7. Finally, a request for assistance. The board at NRR is tackling many, many issues and . . . making progress. But much, much more needs to be done. A priority is establishing a Safety Committee to review safety procedures and implement changes. Our own Jim Cooper, U.S. Rowing safety representative, can assist us in this important project but help is needed. Let us know if you can help out.
Good Rowing to All
Masters Committee
WE OWN LONG ISLAND!
By winning 6 Gold Medals at Sunday’s, Long Island Junior Championships, Norwalk River Rowing proved that their recent string of success was not just a golden flash in the pan!
With what is now their third consecutive strong showing of the season Norwalk River demonstrated their strength-in-depth, with wins coming from both boys and girls and across several disciplines:
Alexandra Stonehill and Caroline Demko put on a great display in the Womens 2-; beating Saugatuck by 16.67 seconds to seize their Gold -And this, after the pair had taken an unintended pre- race swim!
The Mens Ltwt 2x saw Chad Ballard and James Koenigsberg take Gold.
The Mens Ltwt 8+ won their Gold Medal in spectacular fashion; beating Saugatuck by 8.15 seconds. The line-up was David Sullivan, Alex Nicoll, Jon Massari, Matt Koenigsburg, Hugh Woodworth, Joe Blake, Kyle Mikesh, Stefan Petreski. Cox: Matt Stout.
In the Mens Ltwt 4+ The Norwalk River crew of David Sullivan, Matt Koenigsburg, Kyle Mikesh, Stefan Petreski and Cox: Matt Stout defeated Manhasset by 5 seconds to take yet another Gold.
Maddox Hussey followed up his Novice Gold from last week’s Cooper Cup with another Gold, this time in the Men’s JV 1x.
For good measure Chad Ballard and James Koenigsberg won their second and Norwalk River Rowing’s 6th Gold medal by taking the Mens JV2x.
There were also 3 Silver Medals for:
WV8+ with crew Alexandra Stonehill, Caroline Demko, Julia Barr, Maggie Walsh, Kylie O’Connor, Allison Hoffmann, Emma Vergara, Amanda Jenkins. Cox: Caroline Arnold.
WV4+ crewed by Kyle O’Connor, Emma Vergara, Allison Hoffmann, Madeleine Apuzzo Cox: Caroline Arnold
and a Bronze for their second Ltwt 4+.
WN4+ line-up Nicole Vacas, Amber Baker, Danielle Mahoney, Lexi Feliciano. Cox: Callie McCool
Finally a Bronze for M Ltwt4+ bronze (4th fastest time across both flights)
Alex Nicoll, Jon Massari, Joe Blake, Hugh Woodworth. Cox: Ryan Cunningham
Who needs a dock?
Silver Scene
Gold 'n' Sand
Yuri's smiling too! - Or is it photoshop?
SUPER COOPER
The Cooper Cup on Sunday and the boys prep their new Resolute before going out and winning Gold.
When it comes to the crunch......ABmeister Mike Labine helps our novices to keep their six-packs. Just one more time pleeeease!
Masters making the most of Sunday's great weather!
Coxswain Callie McCool celebrates her Novice 4+ Gold Medal with a delicious hi-cal snack.
BIG WINS AT MERCER REGATTA!
Our season got off to the best of starts at Mercer last weekend; we won a clutch of medals, including a Gold, two Silver and several Bronze prizes, across a range of events for both our male and female athletes. In all, the team went home with a very satisfying 24 medals! Rowing clubs from all over the North East and beyond were competing in this two-day regatta which took place in glorious weather on Mercer Lake near Princeton, NJ.
Medals for Norwalk River Rowing were as follows:
Gold Medal :
Men's Ltwt 4x - David Sullivan, Matt Koenigsburg, Stefan Petreski, Kyle Mikesh
Silver Medals:
Mens Varsity 2x Flight 2 - Alex Nicoll, Jon Massari
Mens Varsity Ltwt 4+ Flight 1 - Hugh Woodworth, Alex Nicol, Jon Massari, Joe Blake, Matt Stout
Bronze medals:
Mens Ltwt 2x Flight 2 - Stefan Petreski , Kyle Mikesh
Mens 2nd Varsity 2x Flight 2 - Hugh Woodworth, Willem Taverna
Mens Varsity Ltwt 4x Flight 2 Chad Ballard, Joe Blake, James Koenigsberg, Jon Massari
Womens Varsity 4+ Kylie O'Connor, Allison Hoffmann, Emma Vergara, Madeleine "Moody" Apuzzo, Caroline Arnold
Loading up for Mercer
Ready to roll!
Mercer Lake...
New tents arrived in time - Thanks Ann Sullivan!
Coach Bryan Pape gets a grip on things.
Team Captains Conference.
Womens Varsity 4+ enjoy our applause.
Girls looking bronzed and happy
Kyle and Stefan showing off ....
Golden Guys!
KATHLEEN SUMS IT UP!
Hi Folks,
What a great two days of rowing for our first Spring Regatta! A huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard to provide food and drinks for our athletes and families, chaperone the buses and wake up in the middle of the night! A big shout out to Robin McCool and Stewart Koenigsberg who kept the tent running like a well oiled machine. Who knew it was their first time running an event!
Speaking of tents, our new tents are fantastic and so easy to use! Thank you to Ann Sullivan for getting that done.
Congratulations to all of the athletes for a job well done!
Kathleen
FIRST DATE WITH AN EIGHT!
Some of our novices get their first experience with an eight. We asked coach, Debbie Smith about their reaction. Says Debbie: "They were really psyched! - (Afterwards) They all had ear to ear smiles and were jumping around excitedly reliving the practice. It was also the 1st time they had been out in the bay and they were very excited about that as well. They got a bit tangled up in a booey and managed to stay calm and focused in order to get back on course, which they also found incredibly exciting. They were all reliving the whole practice, all talking over each other, getting more and more excited!
It was one of those moments I really cherish when coaching this age group :-)
Maya Seshan (cox), ), Mark Brady, Andrew Cabrera, Daniel Bullpitt, Laurence Redpath,
Eddie Hoermann, Jake Gedney, Nick Cullen, Christian Kanlian and Alex Troy.
PROUD OF OUR BOARD!...
When you hear someone discussing the exciting new board at Norwalk River Rowing they'll probably be talking about this one. Buffy and Tess did a great job sprucing up our old bulletin board today. It really helps to improve people's first impression when they arrive and Virginia Atkinson's artwork looks great!
READY FOR MY CLOSE UP...
This week, as part of an initiative by coach Yuri Kolomiets, we’ve been shooting some video to help our rowers see how great they are! - and to help iron out those little faults:)
Thanks to Harrison, our videographer. He captured some great stuff for us - and somehow didn't get wet.
Coach Yuri brings the crew in to sign autographs following their starring roles on the water.
BOARD ALREADY?
Russ Zingale …………….Chairman
Lou Petreski……………..President
Elizabeth Stonehill ……Vice President
Don Loomis………………Masters Rowing
Mark Sullivan……………Finance and Governance
Buffy Goodwin…………Association Secretary/Events Director
Alan Blake………………..Director of Marketing and Communications
The new board has really roared out of the blocks and is committed to the continued development of NRRA as the Norwalk River’s premier rowing facility. The board will strive to nurture the spirit of fellowship and unity which underpins our Association.
FUN… FUN… FUND RAISER
What a night it was it really was…… and a huge success. Thanks to everyone for pitching in to help and support the Crews-ing to Gold Fundraiser event. Too many people to name, but special thanks to Buffy Goodwin, Lorena Tavlarios and Tess Riegel for all their efforts and to Kathy Petreski whose brainchild this was.
Norman Weinberger gives the introductory speech at our fundraiser. We think the foreground plant symbolizes our growth!
Our coaches and gurus take a bow.
Fundraiser results:
Proceeds from our Spring
Our combined net between the Corporate Sponsorships, Auction (Silent &
Live), Auction Event Ticket Sales, Friends and Family Donations and Shout Outs totalled $47,845.88.
In addition to the ninety or so NRRA members who contributed by purchasing
tickets, or by submitting and/or buying auction items for the fundraiser event,
a large number of individuals and organizations made donations to Lou Petreski’s corporate Fund raising drive.
NRRA would like to say a huge thank you to the following individuals and
corporations for their generosity in contributing to our fund raising efforts:
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Eric Leftkovsky - Nick Galassi - Bill
Wise - MediaOcean - Tony Castle & Steve Smith -
Plus Consulting - Jim Keller & Chuck Murphy - Boston Interactive - Roger
Stern – The Stern Family - Andy Gorran – The Gorran Family - Tom Murphy & Michael S Scroope - Optimum Lightpath - Joe
Alan - Active International - Rahul Koshla - eDynamic - Steve Rosman - Verizon - Jeff Monk - Lightstream
Communications –Timothy B. Stepp - PC Mall - Lou McElwain – The McElwain Family -
Ken Michael – DOX
CH… CH… CH… CHANGES!
New Coaching Staff
Matt Labine Debbie Smith We welcome Debbie Smith to the NRRA youth program: Debbie
is a longtime rower, mother of While we will miss Abby’s patient style, teaching our
novices, this job helps set her off on the career that she has been seeking for
some time. So we congratulate her and
wish her all the very best! Abby’s last day will be April 11 (a Wednesday) as she moves
the very next day down to Equipment and site
news: These docks are much better suited for our launches, and
create a longer and safer mooring area for them. Announcing
the addition to our fleet, of two
new WinTech 16' launches. They are the
most responsive launches we have for turning, and can, in an emergency, support
up to 10 athletes. Mark @ Norwest 
Welcome back Matt Labine! Matt will be
serving as assistant girl’s coach, working with
three college-age children, and an active swimmer/photographer/artist. She has
been working with coach Coop in bringing up the newest and youngest of our
community: the Middle School and Development Team programs. She has a lot of
past coaching experience, having done this at the Maritime Club for years, and
has openly stated how MUCH she enjoys the open-arms atmosphere we produce on
our site. We welcome her with the positive vibes she give back to our youth.
Coop grades her with an A+ ;)
Abby Neff will be leaving
TOP GEAR
We have acquired 60' of sturdy wooden docks, courtesy of
Norwest Marina (who sold it to us at less than 1/10th its construction value!)
This allows us to use the low plastic docks as a buffer during the extreme low
tides, which occasionally hamper us.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Two NRRA alumni--Clark Ely and Sam Oster
were in the
While crew doesn’t guarantee getting into college, the evidence of the
commitment involved in rowing definitely helps the cause.
We’d love to hear from alumni and their
families. Let us know about your crew experiences at college or about how
you think it helped you get in to your chosen school.
We urge you to use Ted Riegel’s company:
The Travel Bureau Inc. is celebrating
its 50th anniversary this year. They have worked with NRRA for the past
four years helping with regatta travel, National Championship travel, and
parents just needing an overnight place to stay when making a regatta road
trip.
Ted’s plan this season, and going forward, is to try and raise real money for
the club. If you and your family plan a trip through the Travel Bureau and our
commission is over $500, they will donate half of
their commission to the club. It’s that simple.
If you don’t have a travel agent please consider using The Travel Bureau. Not
only will they be there if something goes wrong, but you will be directly
helping the club.
Travel Bureau Inc.
Ph: 203 762 3328
Email: travelbur@aol.com
WEIRD AND WILD
From this week’s mailbag:
Wildlife at NRRA!
Here is something different for you. Back on March 15th, I was
rowing by the NRRA dock when I spotted a mink on shore. It ran along the lower
timber on the bulkhead and out of sight. I thought weasel at first, but after
looking at online photos, I am certain is was a mink.
Wayne Lysobey
HOW TO IDENTIFY A MINK (Ed.)
Thanks to this week’s contributors: Catharine Labine, Jim Cooper (Coop),Don Loomis, Elizabeth Stonehill, Mary Oster, Ted Riegel, Wayne Lysobey…..And special thanks tony for putting this together....
PLEASE KEEP ‘EM COMING!
Coaches, committees and rowers - Please send important updates and any brief items you think appropriate to ablaze100@gmail.com
SHELLING OUT
If you have crew equipment, or services you wish to sell, or are looking to buy, we'll post your ad here. At present we don't charge for this service, but ask that you make a donation to NRRA equivalent to 10 percent of the sale price if your ad is successful.
NORWALK RIVER ROWING ASSOCIATION offers no warranty with regard to items or services sold or purchased via this site. NRRA shall not be held responsible for any claims arising from faults or malfunction of goods, nor from negligence, whether accidental or otherwise, by manufactures,sellers, purchasers and/or users of such goods and services.
Narrow Cradles, 8' Aluminum Cartop Rail, and Mounting Hardware
PRICE: $249.00