![]() DSC scullers brought lots of excitement to this year’s Golden State Indoor Rowing Championships at the Sac. State Aquatic Center and to the Peninsula Indoor Rowing Championships at St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco. The GSIRC venue was packed with rowers and their cheering supporters and coaches, and, as usual, DSC scullers and their families and friends were well represented. In fact, DSC once again earned cheering honors, providing the loudest cheers among all onlookers. For all but two of DSC’s Girls Row Stockton team it was their first indoor competition, and they fared extremely well. All GRS’s novices (Amy McDaniel, Briana Arceo-Salgado, Maya Castillo, and Skylar Flowers) had personal records when comparing their best practice 2K times with what they achieved at Sac. State. With tired wobbling legs they all made it down the stairway to ring the famous PR bell. Injured novice Sydney Jones played a big role by being chief cheerleader and coaching two athletes during the day. Returnee varsity rower Hannah Noe, who has four years of competition left, came home with a silver medal in her event, and Elise Hill competed very well, as always, at her last indoor championship as a high schooler. Elise wants to return as a DSC rower after she graduates. Pizza was the prize for everyone following the day’s competitions. One of the highlights of the day was when Rachel Tappero and Jamie Nance had the privilege of racing against the inspirational Sally Callahan, who set the world indoor record for those in their 90’s by posting a 1K time of 2:48.2. She is a Masters able-bodied rower. Rachel, a PR 2 rower, beat Sally to the finish line by demolishing her own 1K record by 46 seconds, posting an amazing time of 10:46 (but hold on for some other news below). Jamie, a novice PR 1 rower, finished strong and was not far behind his competitors in his first-ever rowing competition. He will be a force to be reckoned with in future events. The day finished with DSC Masters rower Lesley Galloway ringing the PR bell by clocking a 2:18 time that earned her a gold medal in her event. Because she was the only participant in her Women’s lightweight event, she raced with all the teenage coxwains from the clubs attending the championships. Lesley’s time was better than that of seven of those coxes in the 16-person event, and they were all less than a third of her age! A week later, Rachel and Jamie competed again in San Francisco. Rachel surprised us all by besting her personal record AGAIN, logging a time of 10:42, which is amazing for someone as light as she is. Her new nickname is “The Beast”. Jamie, coached by his wife Kathryn, found the experience of another competition invaluable in establishing baselines for future endeavors as a rower. CONGRATS TO ALL THE DSC ATHLETES, PARENTS, RELATIVES, AND FRIENDS WHO EITHER COMPETED OR LENT SUPPORT AT THESE TWO INDOOR ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS. HERE’S HOPING EVEN MORE DSC REPRESENTATION WILL BE AT THESE EVENTS NEXT YEAR! GRS spent yesterday with the Masters' squad at Head of the American at the beautiful Lake Natoma. We raced in the 2x and 4x categories with some incredible performances! Above, Maya and Kaitlin launching in the 2x. We had to walk up to our quads to put the boats in the water - something most of the girls hadn't done before! Everyone took the beach launch in stride... not to mention the cool water felt nice on such a warm Autumn day! Below, Hannah, Khushi, Elise, and Brooke heading off for their race in the 4x. Everyone's race went well! The double, below, dropped 92s from their race at the Head of the Port, despite some wild race conditions - the U17 men's Eights started their race right after the junior 2xs. Because there are 8 people rowing in those larger boats, they generally move much faster than a boat moved by just 2 people. The U17 men's 8s started passing Maya and Kaitlin before they were half way through their race, and in the picture below we can see them approaching the finish line caged in between two of the 8s. (The girls are in the dark double to the left of the green and white eights; the finish line is to the right) The double held their point and stayed in a straight line for the ~200m that they were being flanked - that's some impressive focus! Our quad also had a great race. Since their first race EVER at the Head of the Port, they reported that they felt much calmer and more consistent during this race. They dropped 12s from the previous race, and kept their focus on each other instead of on all of the other racers. Catch the end of their race below! Our team went to our first official regatta this Sunday, Head of the Port in Sacramento. We entered in the Women's Junior 2x and the Women's Junior Novice 4x. Both boats raced hard and had a blast!!
The Double raced at 10:50 with two of our seniors, Maya Weldon-Lagrimas and Kaitlin Schroeder. (Maya in Stroke, Kaitlin in Bow). The girls battled high winds, white caps, and an unpredictable course to come in second place in their first time racing together! We are so proud of our team! This weekend, the girls had to truly trust each other. Rowing in a regatta is a pure test of integrity and commitment; without these things, the racers cannot find their limits. The girls have been practicing hard to build the strength of their relationship, and it paid off on the race course.
We had tons of fun today at the learn-to-row. We had SIX new girls join us to get a taste of life on the water. |
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