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.

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.

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