San Ramon Valley Rowers Win National Championship With Oakland Strokes

DANVILLE, CA — Three San Ramon Valley rowers helped the Oakland Strokes win the club’s 26th national championship at the 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

The Men’s U17 8+ team, coached by Sean Gibel, included San Ramon Valley High School student Dominic Lorente, Dougherty Valley High School student Ari Bernstein, and Monte Vista High School student Oliver Beaver. Although two-thirds of the championship boat were first-year rowers who had never raced before this season, the crew put down the fastest second half in the field to win by just over two seconds.

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Other San Ramon Valley rowers saw success at the championships, including:

• Monte Vista junior Kaloyan Nikolov, who rowed in the silver-medal Men’s Youth 4-
• Ava Wheeler of Monte Vista High School, Mako Begossi of San Ramon Valley High School, and Samyra Joshi of Monte Vista High School, who were part of a boat that finished 17th overall
• Ritika Deshpande of Monte Vista High School rowed in a crew that finished 11th overall as the fastest third-varsity eight in the country
• Maria Kozak of Dougherty Valley High School rowed in a boat that finished 15th

“This weekend showed exactly where this program is headed,” said Allison Ray, the Oakland Strokes Director of Rowing. “We won a national title with a boat that’s two-thirds first-year rowers, and took silver in the four with three juniors returning. The future here is bright.”

Visit oaklandstrokes.org for more information.

SEE ALSO:

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• Emerald Freshman Wins BVAL Tennis Title In Team Sweep
• San Ramon Soccer Team Wins California Cup, Headed To U.S. Open Cup