Rowing Elite

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At the Fall East Coast Speed Orders in New Jersey, one Connecticut junior program that committed to sculling early in the season earned the ultimate result, times two.

New Canaan High School, which shares a boathouse with a similarly winning group of sweep rowers for Maritime Rowing Club (see several fall head race articles in the “regattas” section of rowingnews.com) made sculling—specifically singles—a goal for the season.

“We had big support from everyone,” said Yan Vengerovskiy, Head Coach of the scullers at New Canaan High School Crew and Maritime Rowing Club. As fall got into full swing, Yan would be out on the water with 20 singles. The club has always focused on sculling, but historically had 6-10 singles out for a practice. This year the coaches, athletes, and parents all got on board with an emphasis on singles. Some parents purchased singles for their children, some donated singles to the club, and as racing started in the fall it all fell into place.

Both Andrew Campbell, a senior at New Canaan High School, and Marianne Hoeft, also a senior, won the Junior Single races at the Fall East Coast Speed Order. This was after an entire season spent on the top tier of the podium. Campbell and Hoeft won at the GMS Invitational in September, The Head of the Riverfront and Head of the Schuylkill in October and now Fall Speed Orders in November; many of these races by more than one minute. At the GMS race, Campbell won by approx. 1 minute, 10 seconds, Hoeft by 1 minute, 25 seconds. This established a trend early in the season—and they didn’t let up even as the competition become more intense. At the Speed Order, where arguably the elite juniors are poised and ready, Hoeft won by 16 seconds, Campbell by 44. Both from the same club, same coach. Coincidence?

Although at the Speed Order only the more advanced scullers from New Canaan/Maritime showed up to row, the team has filled results boards leading up to the November elite regatta.

At the Head of the Schuylkill Vengerovskiy’s boys scullers were enormously effective, placing 1st (Andrew Campbell) 3rd (Charlie Kelly) 4th (Charlie Campbell) 5th (William Dannemann) 6th (Alec Buckenheimer) 7th (Roger Stone) , 11th (Aaron Tass) and 12th (Jonathan Rosow) and 35th (Arthur Roski)—bumping perennial top-finishers Malvern Prep down in the results.

“We needed to not just be ‘today faster’ but faster for the long term, and be consistent,” said Vengerovskiy. He adds: “We also needed to be faster at the right time and the right place, which is not easy to do.” The fact is: his goals, the clubs goals, were realized more often than not this year, and as every week went by this fall more top finishes were racked up for the Connecticut crew.

Worth noting also is that three of the top male scullers in the program were recently accepted by Princeton: Andrew Campbell, Alec Burkenheimer and Charlie Kelly.

“We are trying to do more for the athletes at the club—the whole environment at the club is healthy, more advanced....our main target is to make strong athletes first,” says Vengerovskiy, “not just win races.”

“If you want to achieve something, you have to work hard to make it happen,” concludes Vengerovskiy.

The program had 5 athletes on the National team for the U23 World Championships in the Czech Republic this summer including Campbell and lightweight double partner Alec Buckenheimer, and had two New Canaan/Maritime graduates on the Senior National team. (More evidence this is a successful sculling program, if you needed it.)

At the Fall East Coast Speed Orders, it was Campbell and Hoeft’s day, though in the Junior Men’s 1x brother Charlie Campbell came in 3rd, with Alec Buckenheimer 6th and Roger Stone 8th. The club also sent 12 boats to the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta on the same day in Philadelphia (see how they did here). Note that Campbell is winning against heavyweights in many of his races while weighing in at only 150 pounds.

Campbell has been rowing since 2004 at Maritime, and has won big races almost since the beginning, including Junior B double and quad at the US Rowing Club National Champs in 2008 and second at the 2008 Head of the Charles in a double. “He is a high performance athlete,” says his coach, “and has continued to develop his skills.”

Hoeft, a relative “newby” to the sport, started rowing in February 2007. Five months later she was at the US Rowing Youth National Championships. Now two + years into the sport, she is dominating the Youth Single, though not a National team member like her New Canaan team mates. “She is strong, very athletic, a hard worker,” says her coach. Hoeft is considering rowing at Cal or Georgetown so far, but there is still time for more acceptance letters, yes?

Right now the duo has another season at the epicenter of youth rowing to look forward to, and with the facilities available at Maritime Rowing Club, they can train through until spring in the ‘healthy’ (and successful) atmosphere at MRC on the Norwalk River.

For the full results of Fall Speed Orders, look here

 

2009 FALL DOMINATION

The Maritime Juniors are wrapping up their most dominating Fall season ever! After racing in 7 fall regattas, all over the east and west coasts, these athletes have shown to be among the top in the country. The girls team had an undefeated season, including a huge win in the prestigious Head of the Charles (Boston.) The boys dominated in the small boats, with a most impressive victory in the 1x at Head of the Schuylkill (Philadelphia) where Andrew Campbell took down the junior sculler from the 2009 Junior World Championships. Every fall race had the MRC girls and boys topping the leader boards, no matter the event. Varsity 8, JV 8, 4+, 4x, 2x, 1x, any boat, and seat, any time! Congratulations to all athletes, and keep up the GREAT work! Next up: Bill Braxton Regatta and US Rowing Speed Orders.

 

 

Maritime Rowing Club

Norwalk RiverLocated on the scenic Norwalk River, Maritime Rowing Club at the Water Sport Center is dedicated to competitive and recreational rowing for people of all ages and abilities. Maritime Rowing Club is a team-oriented club where all members work together to provide an enjoyable rowing experience for all.

In addition to our junior and adult competitive rowing programs, Maritime offers learn-to-row classes, winter training, and summer camps for juniors. Maritime Rowing Club is home to the MRC competitive team,  New Canaan Crew, St. Luke's School Crew, and the MRC Middle School Crew.

 

High School Winter 2009-2010

Maritime Rowing Club offers excellent winter training programs for all ages and skill levels. The program is designed to help athletes improve in all aspects: fitness, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, discipline, etc. Our programs are tailored to fit middle school athletes all the way up to international level high school athletes. Weekly training consists of indoor workouts and a session in the indoor tanks at Yale University. Tank training will begin in January 2010. Winter fitness training includes cardiovascular conditioning, weight/strength training, and rowing fitness and technique on the erg. Rowers will participate in the CT Indoor Rowing Championship in early February and selected athletes will compete at the Crash-B's in Boston on Feb. 14, 2010. www.crash-b.org.

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Junior Rowing

Maritime Rowing Club has a large and active junior rowing program, which includes both middle and high school athletes. Maritime Rowing is home to the Maritime Advanced Team, New Canaan High School Crew, MRC Middle School Crew, St. Luke's School Crew and the Maritime Rowing Club Team. The junior rowing program is organized into the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.  All seasons include training and racing. The fall season runs from September through mid-November. Winter Training runs from mid-November through the end of February. The Spring season runs early March through early June.  Summer season runs June - August.

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