Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, PA - Rockland youth and U23 rowers competed at the Schuylkill Navy Regatta on Saturday where they won gold in three events: the women's novice single, women's intermediate lightweight double and the men's junior four. The conditions were perfect for the 2,000 meter side-by-side sprint races. "This is the first regatta in our summer circuit and the goal is to get out there and gain more racing experience," said head coach Melissa Boyd.
Vanessa Even-Chen Ramapo NJ '19 raced in the novice women's single 1,000 meter straight final and won gold by a four second margin over Nereid finishing in 4:25.80.
Novice coxswain Emilie Mazzola Briarcliff '19 lead her crew to a gold medal in the junior men's four straight final finishing nearly a minute ahead of single opponent Bergen County with a time of 8:29.81. This was the crew's first ever sweep race. The lineup was Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20, Billy Grippi Tappan Zee '20, Kevin McCabe N Valley Demarest '20, and Alex Karanikitas N. Valley Regional '19.
Former Rockland rower and current Cornell rower, Cassidy McGovern stroked the women's intermediate double with bow seat Juliette Frank Ramapo NJ '17. They finished a close third, just over a second behind East End with a time of 8:05.86 in a six boat final. Last summer the duo raced together at USRowing's Club Nationals where they placed 8th in the nation in the women's under 19 double. Frank is rowing at UCLA this fall.
RRA's junior women's double with varsity rower Frankie Fradianni Nyack '17 and novice rower Lucinda Carroll Nyack '19 finished runner up to Nereid with a time of 8:59.74. Fradianni is rowing at UNC this fall.
Former Rockland rower and now Wisconsin lightweight women's coxswain, Lucille Tasker partnered with Gabriele Welp (IHA '19) in the women's intermediate lightweight double final where they commanded a 40 second led over Nereid in the dual race, finishing with a time of 8:25.52.
Next up for the team is IDR in Philly on June 30-July 2.