GAR high school rowers, including graduating seniors, are welcome to get some time on the water and have some fun at the Masters’ scheduled rows this summer. The Masters have coached rows seven days a week. There are technique/recreational rows, open rows and competitive rows on the schedule. You can see the schedule at http://www.brownbearsw.com/freecal/GARMasters.
Your only cost is a coaching fee of $10 per row or $65 for an unlimited number of rows for a calendar month. You’ll need your coach’s approval.
If you’re interested or want more information contact masters@gainesvillearearowing.com.
Gainesville Area Rowing had a very successful weekend at The Hooch in Chattanooga, Tennessee!
We had at least eighteen entries over the weekend and our Youth Rowers and our Master Rowers made GAR very proud. The weather was excellent, and the community very welcoming and accommodating to all who attended, what ended up being a record attendance at The Hooch!
Our Youth Rowers placed First (Gold) in the Mixed Youth 8+ race! Our Masters placed First (Gold) in the Mixed Open 2X. Jen Figueroa, our Sculling Coach and Master Rower, received a Silver Medal in the Women’s Master 1X race and was only 3/10′s of one second from Gold! With some races having almost 50 entries (competitors) our Youth were within 30 seconds or less off of the first place time in some races. Great job!
With continued training, I am looking forward to a very successful end to the Head Racing season this Fall and an even more successful Sprint Season in the Spring! Coaches, thank you all for your dedication to this club and to our youth and their success!
And, well, we had quite an exciting trip home yesterday – one of our buses broke down and we had to combine two buses into one bus for a six hour ride home. I want to thank everyone for their understanding, cooperation, and their excellent sense of humor during this “crunch” in getting all of us home safely and not very late, considering the circumstances. Our “Novice” parents learned what it means to be GAR family – everyone was such a good sport about this and we got to know each other very well!
I want to thank everyone for all of their help this weekend setting up and taking down, serving at the food tent and dinners, and chaperoning the rowers and the halls on both nights. Thanks to Mike Driscoll for driving the food trailer up to Chattanooga and Nina and Tom Cornwell for organizing the food tent for the weekend. This is truly a team effort so thank you again, all of you, for your help with anything that was needed!
Ten GAR Masters and a couple of our friends took on the 5,000 meter course on the Tennessee River and lots of tough competition at the Head of the Hooch November 7th and 8th in Chattanooga, TN. The Hooch is the second largest race in the country and this year over 1,700 boats were entered.
Aside from an early morning nip to the air, the weather was great for racing and the venue was, as usual, beautiful. The area has been receiving heavy rainfall and the river was running very fast this year. The TVA did an excellent job of regulating flow so the event could be held but the current did present some challenges. Race officials did an exceptional job of keeping the events very close to the schedule while making allowances for the water conditions.
As a club, GAR Masters finished in a tie for 16th place out of 44 clubs entered.
Here’s how the nine GAR boats did:
Men’s Master 4X – 9th
Mixed Open 2X – Gold Medal
Mixed Master 2X – 21st
Women’s Championship 2X – 9th
Women’s Master 2X – 15th
Mixed Master 4X – 11th
Women’s AA-A-B 1x – Silver Medal and 13th
Mixed Master 8+ – 17th
Special congratulations are in order for Jen Figueroa. In the Mixed Open 2X she and Bill Griffith rowed to a gold medal. In the Womens’ Masters AA-A-B 1X, after having to return to the dock to replace her failed boat seat, followed by a draining row to get the to start line in time, Jen was still fastest on the water and, after handicap, finished second by a mere 3/10 of a second.
Also, congratulations to Coach Justin who rowed to a silver medal in the Men’s Master 8+.
It was a good year for GAR Masters at the Hooch. The team truly demonstrated the progress we have made over the last year. Next year everyone can expect more and faster boats from Gainesville. Something to look forward to!
The 2009 Fall Rowing Challenge has concluded. Thank you to everyone who participated. Fourteen GAR ergers reached the 100k goal and all together they rowed over 2.5 million meters. GAR placed in in the top 5 rowing clubs (of 60), and 31st out of the 256 groups that participated in the challenge.
Concept2 has sent out Concept2 socks for those that reached the 200K level and a Concept2 towel for the 100K level.
See the full results here: http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/team/teamStandings.asp?re_index=39&group=team
Great job!
GAR’s presence was felt at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston today. This morning new GAR Master Andy Hogshead, in the Harvard Alumni Mens 8+, rowed to a 6th place finish in a field of 34 boats. Their raw time was 16:47.586, a mere 11 seconds from medaling. Way to row, Andy! Full results for this event can be found here: http://www.hocr-timing.org/results/19213.htm
This afternoon, in the Director’s Challenge Mixed Double, Jen Figueroa and Bill Griffith were the fastest on the water by more than a minute in the 22 boat event. They rowed the course in an unofficial time 18:54.679. After handicaps were applied their great row gave them a third place finish. Full results for their event can be found here: http://www.hocr-timing.org/results/14435.htm
Also, congratulations to GAR Alumi David Fette. David Fette is a 2009 Alumni Rower of GAR. David is currently attending Boston University and rowing with their college crew team. David and his crew raced against 46 other club boats and their boat came in 4th! Full results for this race can be found here: http://www.hocr-timing.org/results/14393.htm
Congratulations to Jen, Andy and David!
Here are the results from the First Coast Regatta. Congratulations to all the rowers!
The final results with times can be found here: Final Results 2009
Youth:
Womens Youth 8+ Final – 1st Place
Womens Youth Novice 8+ Final – 3rd Place
Womens Youth 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth Novice 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth Lightweight 4+ Final – 2nd Place
Womens Youth 1x Final – 3rd Place
Womens Youth 2x Final – 2nd Place
Mens Youth 8+ Final – 11th Place
Mens Youth Novice 8+ Final – 2nd Place
Mens Youth 4+ Final – 4th Place
Mens Youth Novice 4+ Final – 3rd Place
Mens Youth Lightweight 4+ Final – 4th Place
Masters:
Mens Championship 1x Final – 2nd Place
Mens Championship 2x Final – 2nd Place
Womens Championship 1x Final – 1st Place
Mens Masters 4+ Final – 4th Place
Womens Masters 4+ Final – 3rd Place
Mixed Open 2x Final – 2nd Place
Mixed Open 4+ Final – 3rd Place
Again, congratulations to all of our rowers! It was a great day!