5th National Title For Local Rowers

Once again, rowers from NC Crew brought home the gold at last week’s US Rowing Youth National Championship in Sarasota, Florida.

The four high school teammates, who train out of the NCC/Maritime Rowing boathouse in South Norwalk, were just a few of 27 rowers on the team who qualified at regional races for the four day Sarasota championship. With over 40,000 youth rowers registered with US Rowing, the 1,500 elite rowers who traveled to compete in the Nationals represent the strongest and fastest rowers in the country.

And yet unbelievably, for the fifth straight year, the NC men’s quad won the gold and a National title once again in their 2,000-meter A final race, training under Head Coach Yan Vengerovsiky. After easily qualifying for the semifinal in time trials, they were passed by California Yacht Club in a close race. However in the A-Final, the New Canaan boat grabbed the lead with a fast start and held on to it for the entire race, as other crews attempted in vain to wrest another win from the four time national champions. The quad from New Canaan crossed the finish line first with over a half a second’s lead to win the gold.

Says Coach Vengerovskiy, "We train all year with the goal of seeing our crews perform to the best of their abilities at this regatta. The performance of these top athletes is a reflection of the entire team and it's great to see all the hard work and dedication pay off for our young athletes."

Gus Kynast of Ridgefield was the stroke for the number one Men’s Youth Quad in the country, with James Hilton and Tim Cone of Darien, and J.C. Sanzone of Redding, all seniors, completing the line up.

The New Canaan Men’s B Quad also medaled, winning a silver in their B final which placed them 8thin the entire country. Junior Andrew Simoneau from Ridgefield rowed as stroke. Junior Nash Hooper of New Canaan and Seniors Tyler Kortekaas and Max Plum, both from New Canaan, rounded out the quad.

The Women’s quad, stroked by Darien High School Junior Lexy Zitzmann, finished 14thin the country after a second place win in the C Final. Zitzmann was assisted by Juniors Merle Sutherland and Eleanor Davies from Darien and Weston respectively, as well as New Canaan High School Sophomore Lily Plum. With all three Plum family high schoolers racing at Sarasota, the Plum family was well represented at Nationals. Former Russian National Champion Yulia Chagina is the Head Coach for the girl’s team.

In other National’s races, the Men’s Lightweight 4 also medaled, claiming a bronze in their A Final and the title of the 3rdfastest Youth Lightweight Men’s Four in the country. Stroke Nick VanIngen of Darien High School set the pace, along with Max Lindeis and Ben Castle of New Canaan and Daniel Loginsky of Fairfield. Carly Legenzowski of South Salem, who won a gold in this race last year, coxed the boat. Lightweight Coach Dan Walsh, a former Olympic Bronze medalist and US National Team member, has made the New Canaan lightweights a strong force in national rowing.

The Men’s Lightweight 8 won their D final with a time of 6:22 for the 2,000 meter race, placing them at 19thin their boat class in the country. The boat was coxed by Henry Benton of New Canaan and stroked by Kyle Brody of Wilton. Three of the rowers attend Darien High School including Ian Holly, Lachlan McLaren and Michael Aronson. Dukes Plum and Nicholas Roeder-Yika are from New Canaan, and Will Hall-Tipping of Rowayton and Ian Holmberg of Fairfield completed the 8+.

Single sculler Max deWolf won his Repechage race in a photo finish to move on to the Semis and then the B Finals where he again was first over the finish with less then a second over his next competitor. This places him 7thin the entire country for Youth Single Men’s Scullers. De Wolf, a native of Florida travels up to Norwalk for half the year to train under renowned Coach Vengerovskiy, who founded New Canaan Crew with his wife Olga, a World and National Russian Champion. Vengerovskiy has a world renowned reputation for coaching young rowers with three Olympic rowers coming out of the program since it’s inception 20 years ago.

New Canaan Crew is comprised of rowers from 13 area towns and 24 local schools. Its rowers train on the Norwalk River in South Norwalk, CT, home to the club’s new boathouse. Rowing classes are offered for all ages and skill levels, from Middle School Learn-to-Row to Masters competitive racing. For more information please visit www.maritimerowing.comor email/call Sharon Kriz, Director of Rowing Programs
at info@maritimerowing.comor (203) 854-5492.