Atlanta Junior Rowing Wins Regional Titles

With a rowing club almost 30 years old, any time you are “making history”, the stakes must be huge. Last weekend, Atlanta Junior Rowing Association (AJRA) rowers traveled to Sarasota, Florida to compete in the 2016 USRowing Southeast Regional Championship regatta, and brought home results that are worth of that historical classification.

Atlanta Juniors finished second in the team points competition, out of almost 40 clubs from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Of 13 AJRA boats competing, 12 made it into the final round of racing on Sunday, and 8 boats earned a top-three podium finish. Additionally, four boats qualified for the USRowing Youth National Championship, and three boats brought regional titles back to Atlanta.

The highlight of the regatta was the Atlanta Junior Women’s Varsity 8+, winning the premier event of the regional championship for the first time in the history of the club. The varsity women progressed through heats, posting the fastest time on Saturday, and followed up with an open water win in the final on Sunday.

Executive Director Sarah Low was pleased with the club’s showing, saying, “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this team. Every single rower and coxswain who raced on Sunday contributed to our second place points finish, which ties our highest ever performance. Any time you line up against the fastest crews in the Southeast, and then can bring medals home, that is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations to our three Regional Champion crews, and our four Nationals-qualifying crews. I can’t wait to see how we do in New Jersey at Nationals, and am excited for the future of Atlanta Juniors.”

AJRA is a nonprofit youth sports organization dedicated to teaching middle and high school students the Olympic sport of rowing. Now in its 28th year, AJRA is the largest and most successful youth rowing program in Georgia. More than 200 athletes from public and private schools throughout metro Atlanta rowed at AJRA for the 2015-16 fall and spring seasons, and some 200 campers are registered for Learn to Row programs at AJRA this summer.

More information about AJRA is available at www.ajracrew.com.