Inaugural Middle and High School Competition at Reggie Lewis Sports
WHAT: Community Rowing, Inc.’s inaugural Youth Erg Trials International – YETI — competitive event for Boston-area middle-school and high-school students.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2017. Doors open at 9 a.m. First race is at 10 a.m.
WHERE: The Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, 1350 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02120.
WHO: More than 1,000 middle school and high school student participants from 26 schools, including Boston Public Schools and the Greater Boston area. Some have rowed at Community Rowing, Inc. on the Charles River in Boston before, and some will be new to the activity.
Former New England Patriots tackle Max Lane and Paralympic Silver Medalist Rower Jenny Sichel will be on hand for awards presentations.
BACKGROUND
The Youth Erg Trials International — YETI — event was previously known as the Indoor School Rowing Championships. YETI features teams of students from middle schools and high schools in Boston, many of whom row in Community Rowing’s winter in-school indoor rowing programs. They will compete with each other on Friday in timed trials.
More than 200 teams from Boston Public Schools will be participating, and visiting crews from Lawrence, Waltham, and Norwalk, CT, are also participating this year. About 300 students competed last year, and more than 1,000 will participate this year. The event will also feature rowing equipment demonstrations, yoga, tennis, and team oar design stations.
Participating partners include Sportsmen’s Tennis and enrichment Center, Artemis Yoga, American Heart Association, and Massachusetts College of Art.
Middle-school young men and women in mixed teams of four will each row for 90 seconds in the sprint competitions on indoor rowing machines. High-school students will row in relay races of mixed teams of three, each rowing for two minutes.
Separate competitions will be held for teams from each school in grades 5 through 12.
“YETI helps celebrate the amazing progress of the youth in our Middle School Indoor Rowing Program,” said Kara White, Manager of Middle School Rowing for Community Rowing, Inc. “The program works in partnership with the Boston Public Schools and other districts to increase daily physical activity and introduce youth with and without disabilities to the sport of rowing. “
Community Rowing will provide 60 Concept2 indoor rowing workout machines for the event. Prizes include medals for top relay teams in each grade level, and there will be a full-size oar team trophy for the overall winning school. Lunches will be provided. Registration for the event will begin at 9 a.m., and competitions will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The event is sponsored by Head of the Charles, the Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Polar Beverages, Stonyfield Organics, 88 Acres, Gentle Giant, and The Other Bean Hummus.
For more information about registration, please contact Tiffany Macon at tiffany@communityrowing.org or 617.529.5941. For other information, please contact Kara White atkara.white@communityrowing.org or 508.254.9480.
ABOUT COMMUNITY ROWING, INC.
Community Rowing, Inc., based in Brighton, MA, is the largest nonprofit rowing organization in the United States, serving more than 7,000 youth and adults with a range of programs for beginners, recreational rowers, and competitive athletes. CRI promotes health and fitness for the entire greater Boston community, delivering after-school programs to urban youth, health and fitness programs to physically and mentally challenged members of the community, and learn-to-row programming for kids and adults. Programs include one-time learning-to-row classes to year-round memberships. CRI was founded in 1985 by a group of Olympic and National Team Rowers with the goal of widening the circle of rowing and securing public access for the sport on the Charles River. Today the organization has more than 30 programs and a fleet of more than 170 sweep and sculling shells. Learn more at www.communityrowing.org .
For more information, please contact:
Kara White, Manager of Middle School Rowing,
Community Rowing, Inc.
508.254.9480, Kara.white@communityrowing.org
Or
Tom Palmer, Tom Palmer Communication,
617.755.7250, tompalmer@rcn.com
Community Rowing to Hold Youth Erg Trial International on Friday
Smooth Move
A fruit smoothie that includes Greek yogurt, banana, and berries offers plenty of satiating and muscle-building protein as well as the carbohydrates to refuel and replenish after a tough session. As a general rule, your muscles want three or four times more calories from carbohydrates than from protein. If you like the convenience of protein shakes, toss in some carbs.
Any Questions?
The old adage that the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask doesn’t always apply when speaking with college coaches. Your questions tell the coach something about you. Good questions are the ones that speak to your specific concerns, communicate your sincere interest in the team, and are best addressed by a coach. The worst questions are the ones that show you don’t really care, like asking for information you can readily find on the program website.
In many instances, you will want to go to the student-athletes themselves with your questions rather than the coaches. They are more likely to speak the unvarnished truth, while the coach will be motivated to paint the program in the best light. It’s also important to know your place. Most college coaches are turned off when a 17-year-old asks, “What’s your coaching philosophy?” You’re not interviewing the coach for a job and you’re certainly not ready to answer a question about your rowing philosophy, so stick to the basics and use your powers of observation to see what the coach believes.
College coaches want prospects taking initiative and leading their own college search. Prospects should communicate with the coach. Parents do, however, have an important role in the process, particularly when the talk turns to finances. Prospects are often most interested in how recruiting works at a particular school. They want to know if they can get a scholarship and/or if a coach can “support” their application with admissions colleagues. These are valid concerns. But they need to show the coach why they deserve a scholarship or their support before asking whether or not they’ll get it.
2017 San Diego Crew Classic Recap
Conditions were near-perfect today, April 2, for the final day of racing at the 2017 San Diego Crew Classic. Impressive margins in the morning finals gave way to tight racing later in the afternoon as Belen Jesuit left open water over Marin in the men’s high school lightweight eight grand final. Belen Jesuit will return to Miami with the Shimano Rowing Dynamics Cup.
Newport Aquatic Center was the big winner in the day winning sweeping the men’s high school varsity eight, the men’s high school junior varsity eight and the novice men’s eight. The Newport varsity eight pulled a speedy 5:58.02 in the grand final beating out Oakland Strokes by three seconds.
Racing was tighter in the women’s high school lightweight eight grand final, where Sea Base narrowly walked away with a win over Marin. Less than one second separated the two California crews. In other junior racing, Saugatuck took home the Gillman-Mulliken Cup in the women’s high school eight event over Marin, producing the same first and second finishes as the 2016 Crew Classic. The junior women of OKC Riversport took third place in the event after narrowly making the grand final in yesterday’s heats.
Despite yesterday’s close times in the heats, Cal did not leave much room for suspense this afternoon as they finished first in the men’s collegiate varsity eight Copley Cup grand final four seconds ahead of Yale, reversing last year’s order. Stanford and the University of Victoria had the absolute closest finish of the day with only one-quarter of a second separating the two. Stanford came out on top, however, and took the third place slot in the event.
In the women’s collegiate varsity eight event, the Jessop-Whittier Cup will be flying back to Austin with the Texas Longhorns. Four seconds behind the Longhorns with a time of 6:20.55 came the Trojans and seven seconds after that were the Wisconsin Badgers.
For a full list of results and times visit https://herenow.com/results/#/races/20339/results.
Consistency is the Name of the Game
.665 seconds. That was the margin between the Yale Bulldogs and California Bears this morning, April 1, at the 2017 San Diego Crew Classic in the men’s varsity eight Copley Cup Invitational heats. Cal had the faster time clocking in at 5:42.088 but neither the Bulldogs, stroked by Yale senior and national-teamer, Nathaniel Goodman, nor the Bears appeared to be emptying the tank as they crossed the finish line. Both won their heats.
This seemed to be the status quo for racing today as upsets were few and far between. In the women’s collegiate varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup eight event Dave O’Neill’s Longhorns took the first place finish in the first heat, meeting expectations, and will face off against the University of Southern California tomorrow in the final. The Trojan women took first place in their heat as well with a slower time of 6:28.784.
In one of the closest heats of the day, OKC Riversport bested Capital crew by barely a second in order to make grand finals over the crew based out of the Sacramento State Aquatic Center. OKC Riversport team captain, Xaley Yousey, said they were prepared to do what they had to in order to make the finals.
“I think last night in our boat meeting we talked about making a decision,” Yousey said. “We weren’t really sure when that decision was going to be made, but I think it came down to having to make that decision in the last 250 meters … and I think we made the decision not to be walked through.”
In the end, OKC managed to take second place behind Marin Rowing Association and will race in the grand finals tomorrow.
In the men’s high school varsity eight event, remarkably, all six crews that will be racing tomorrow in the grand final are from California. Newport Aquatic Center walked away with the fastest heat time in the event with a 6:10.458.
For a full list of results visit https://herenow.com/results/#/races/20339/results.
2017 San Diego Crew Classic Preview
Winter is over. At least that’s the way it seems for crews on approach to San Diego this weekend, April 1-2, for the annual San Diego Crew Classic. With more than 70 crews represented from Miami to Seattle, there is sure to be some good racing this weekend. In the premier events, such as the men’s and women’s collegiate eights, the usual suspects are what you might expect to see at the awards tent this year. Look for Dave O’Neill’s Longhorns to come looking for hardware as they lost in the 2016 race by a narrow two seconds. On the men’s side, Yale sung boola boola as they crossed the finish line on Mission Bay ahead of Cal and Drexel with a solid seven-second margin on the Bears. Expect Cal to arrive in San Diego ready for a fight against the Bulldogs.
In the junior events, California crews seem to always wind up in the grand final. In the women’s varsity eight grand final in 2016, six of the eight crews were from the golden state. Saugatuck Rowing, being the exception, had no problem taking the first place slot in the 2016 women’s junior eight event and will have their eyes set on gold again this year, no doubt. On the junior men’s side look for Marin and Oakland in the top three finishers of the men’s high school varsity eight grand final.
Check back Saturday and Sunday following racing for a recap of the day.
NK Grant Program Submissions Due April 1
For more information on NK’s grant program please visit our Grant Applications Page, or click one of the links below to get started on your application!
In Good Spirits
Simon Fraser University coxswain Iulia Bodnariuc is among the six finalists for FISA’s Fillippi Spirit Award, given annually to university rowers who have demonstrated core values of rowing in their academic and sporting life. As head coxswain, Bodnariuc is responsible for training new coxswains and coaching the novice crews. She also volunteers for Science Al!ve, a British Columbia-based nonprofit that focuses on exposing youth to science, technology, and engineering. This year’s Fillippi Spirit Award saw a record 47 nominations from 20 different countries. The winner receives a new Fillippi eight for their rowing program.
