Stone Bridge Rowing Wraps Up Successful 2023 Post-Season Campaign

The 2023 mission of the Stone Bridge Rowing Team was to, as a unified rowing team, foster a culture of excellence, teamwork, and personal growth both on and off the water. Athletes strived to represent their school with pride and sportsmanship, and to leave a positive impact on our community through their dedication, hard work, and character. Adhering to their mission, athletes came to practice every day with a mindset to improve daily, be dependable teammates, push their boundaries, and to enjoy their time on the water.

Seven boats were fielded throughout the season with five of those seven placing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships (VSRC). On day one, the Women’s Novice Eight had their best row of the season finishing 4th in their heat with a time of 6:24.1. This represented an astonishing 17.5 second drop in time within a week! It was also their first race in their true Novice lineup. It was a solid showing for these first-year athletes who proudly represented Stone Bridge.

The finals kicked off with the now State Champion, Women’s Third Four! These girls, and Jake, edged out rival Battlefield by 4.2 seconds holding them off as they tried to make a move at the end. With the aid of Coach Kittelson throughout the season, the team will have a nice trophy to display at the school leading into the 2024 season.

The team’s day concluded after the Men’s Novice Four took 2nd place in their final with a time of 6:05.0! For a group who had only raced the weekend before, they demonstrated maturity and discipline on the race course which helped lead them to their successful finish.

Four crews successfully represented the program on the second day of the VSRC. The Women’s First Four, Women’s Second Four, and Men’s Junior Eight advanced to their afternoon finals. The Men’s Junior Four came within 0.1 seconds of making their final of a very competitive race and category. This crew consistently performed at a high level throughout the season winning races and impressing coaches, families, and teammates along the way. The future is bright for these five hard working athletes.

The Women’s Second Four finished 2nd in the State!

The Men’s Junior Eight edged out Lake Braddock by 0.2 seconds to finish 3rd in the State! This is the first Men's 8+ to place in the State Championship in the history of the program!

For the second consecutive year, the Women’s First Four finished 2nd in the State! This season, the Women's program finished 2nd, 2nd, & 1st in the fours progression...another significant achievement for the program!

Three crews represented Stone Bridge Rowing at the prestigious Stotesbury Cup Regatta.

The Men’s Junior Eight, the first men’s eight the team has fielded at Stotesbury, finished 22nd in the time trial.

The Women’s First Four finished 11th in the time trial advancing to the Semi-Final where they pulled their season best time of 5:50.02 finishing 4th.

The team’s Stotesbury Highlight came with the Women’s Second Four finishing 3rd in their category winning bronze medals representing Stone Bridge, and all of Loudoun County, for the first time in the team’s history on the Stotesbury awards dock!

Following the results from the VSRC Regatta, two crews qualified and made the trip to SRAA Nationals in Oak Ridge, Tennessee- The Women’s First Four and the Men’s Junior Eight, the first men’s eight in team history to qualify for the event.

The Men’s Junior Eight ended up finishing 18th in the country after finishing 6th in a hard fought heat.

The Women’s First Four advanced through the heats, onto the semifinals, and into the 2nd final where they finished 3rd with a time of 5:52.379 edging out rival Oakton. This crew finished 9th in the country and has made it into the Stone Bridge record book as the fastest women’s crew in team history!

With the 2023 season at a close, it is important to reflect on more than just wins, losses, and the history made by the program. The team earlier defined success as operating as a unified rowing team and fostering a culture of excellence, teamwork, and personal growth both on and off the water. Our hope is that the team stayed on mission, further developed a passion for the sport, improved as student athletes, and most importantly had fun building relationships with their teammates! The offseason work now begins as athletes take the necessary steps to put themselves in a position to succeed in the spring of 2024, and we say goodbye to the team’s seniors who dedicated their time and sacrificed so much in an effort to build the Stone Bridge Rowing program into the strongest in Loudoun County!