Check out the wonderful article on our adaptive rowing team in Rivertown News!
Pull With Purpose Fundraiser Raises over $30,000!
With the generous $15,000 matching grant from Crestron, the Rockland Rowing Association raised over $30,000 in its annual “Pull With Purpose” fundraising erg-a-thon. Held in the east court of the Palisades Center, there was great energy as the adult and youth teams combined to compete first in a 1000m erg race, and then a 1-hour relay race for teams of 4. We attracted many passing shoppers, and even a local cable station’s (FioS1 News) camera team and reporter that were onsite.
A typical 4-person relay team consisted of a rower from our Adult Team, a Competitive Youth Team rower, a Development Team youth rower and a new rower just trying out the sport. Our Adaptive Team had its own team that generated lots of power as they all “pulled with purpose.” Thanks to all the donors who help make it possible for the RRA to fulfill its mission to “improve people’s lives through the sport of rowing.” This year’s donations are going toward several projects, including new racing shells for the youth teams and a new engine for our safety/coaching launches. The safety of all our rowers, particularly our adaptive team that is already challenged physically, requires us to have reliable launches to provide assistance in an emergency. At the same time, to be ecologically sensitive, we are trying to avoid the use of gasoline engines. Our fleet of propane engines is temperamental, so we are looking into some new electric engines that can propel our launches at the needed speed (close to 20mph to keep up with the fastest rowing shells, and to quickly reach any rower facing some sort of emergency) while producing no emissions.
U23 Summer Sculling Camp
From June to August, Rockland is running a U23 Summer Racing Team for collegiate rowers from around New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The team focuses on small boats and sculling. We train on Rockland Lake in Valley Cottage, NY, and race at Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia, Club Nationals in Ohio this year, and Canadian Henley in St. Catharines, Ontario. Members of the U23 team in past years have been from Cornell, Columbia, Wisconsin, and Iona.
We will teach rowers to scull if they are strictly a sweep rower currently. Our practices will be held both morning and evening to provide flexibility to those who work, or to offer multiple practices per day for those looking to significantly improve their rowing and fitness this summer.
The program is coached by our coaching staff that includes head coach Veli Etropolski - an 8-time member of the Bulgarian National Team, and Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky, a former Cornell rower, long-time masters rower and president of Rockland Rowing for over 15 years, and Charlotte Buck, former captain of the Columbia University Women's Crew, two time All-American Second Team and competed as part of the World University Games Team in 2018.
Camp Dates:
June 1st - August 11th
Race Dates:
IDR, Philadelphia, PA - June 28th-30th
Club Nationals, Lake Harsha, OH - July 9th-14th
Canadian Henley, St. Catherines, ON - Aug 6th-11th
Email charlotte@rocklandrowing.org if you would like more information
Chris Hely Gets the Hammer!
Our only Master racing this past Saturday at the St. Valentine’s Day Regatta was Chris Hely. In the Men’s Veteran A (50-59) Event, Chris came in 3rd.
The 500m races came at the end of the day, and Chris decided to hop back on the erg and race a field of masters and collegiate men. At a blistering pace, Chris came in first with a time of 1:25.0. He came away with a hammer as the prize for his great race!
One of our coaches, Charlotte, raced representing New York Athletic Club. She came away with the win in the Women’s Open 2k and 500m races!
PRs for Rockland at St. Valentine's Day Regatta
The winter season demands many long practices on the erg to gain fitness. The youth team had a chance for show off their gains in speed at PCRA’s St. Valentine’s Day Regatta this past Saturday. Nineteen different teams from around the tristate area came to compete in masters, collegiate, and youth races. For many on the Development Team, this was their first opportunity to race.
In the Boys Novice 1000m, Alex Cathcart, Nikolai Sasonov, Mattan Goshen, Daniel Owens, and Luke Mallory. On the girls side for the Novice 1k, Emma Deljanin came in fourth and Katie Mallory put down a great race. “I am so proud of all of the members of the development team and their race results” said Dev Team Coach Charlotte. “They have been improving so much every week and I can’t wait to see how they do once we get back on the water.”
The competitive team raced next. Both Finn Bolger and Kyle Fredricks laid down personal best times for their 2ks in the Boys U17 event. Posting the best result for the team was a second place finish from Anthony Rostek in the U19. Jake Bardorf and Billy Grippi both pulled great races as well in the U19 event. With only ten minutes to rest, Jake and Billy turned around and raced another 500m race. Hannah Hely had a great race, coming in 5th in the U19 Girls event.
After a great weekend of erg racing, the team is back together for one more week of indoor racing before traveling to Austin, TX!
Winter Training 2018-19
With February around the corner, the team has been training hard on the ergs to get faster before the spring season. The erg machine helps to train and expand our athletes’ fitness when it is too cold to row on Rockland Lake. We have been seeing great PRs, or personal records, for many of the erg workouts. We’ve been seeing great gains and awesome work across the board. Anthony Rostek, Hannah Hely, and Celeste Klose have all seen great improvement in their 2k PRs and continue to pick up more speed!
The Development Team, for kids in their first year of rowing, has been growing! For their first season on the ergs, the dev team has been doing a excellent job. Just this week, Daniel Owens had a seven second PR for his 500m. If you would like to join the team, please email charlotte@rocklandrowing.org or come to our next Introduction to Rowing on the first Saturday of ever month. The next introduction class is on February 2nd at 12pm at the NYSC in the Palisades Mall.
The Masters Competitive Team has been training fiercely early in the mornings. Coming off a third place finish at Master’s World Championships last fall, the masters have been putting in the meters to continue making gains in speed. Chris Hely has been crushing his erg training, setting new RRA masters erg records!
Check out the youth winter training in the video below!
Head of the Schuylkill
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Rockland Rowers took to the Schuylkill River for a 2.5 mile head race on Sunday. Highlights included five top-half finishes in events which see close to 50 entries.
In the boys varsity single sculls Anthony Rostek (17th), Anthony Feteira (20th), Jake Bardorf (25th) and Ryan Almond (26th) all finished in the top half in a field of 53.
Rostek and Almond teamed up for a second race in the varsity double sculls where they finished 11th out of 44 entries.
Great showing at Navy Day Regatta
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Rockland Rowing team raced at the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River on Saturday, October 13 and claimed four medals in the men’s doubles and quadruple sculls.
Men’s Masters Double (40-49)
1. Fairmont (14:48.47)
2. Undine (15:12.52)
3. Rockland (15:58.46) - Chris Hely and Alec Almond
Men’s Masters Double (50-59)
1. Malta (14:44.60)
2. Rockland (15:15. 82) - Peter Klose and Justin Bohan
3. Rockland (15:18.36) - Brad Boericke and Ivan Rudolph-Shabinksy
Men’s Masters Quad (50-59)
1. Viking (14:00.66)
2. Rockland (14:11.35) Peter Klose, Alec Almond, Chris Hely and Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky
Next up the team travels to Lyndhurst, New Jersey for the Head of the Passaic Regatta on October 14.
Adaptive Team Races at the Head of the Riverfront
Hartford, Connecticut — Rockland Rowing Association’s adaptive team traveled to Hartford, CT on September 29 for a difficult but ultimately successful head race on the Connecticut River. Coach Greta Nettleton was really impressed by her team’s determination and resilience. “The heavy current tested everyone’s strength to the max. We really saw everyone’s fighting spirit in this event,” she added. The course had to be shortened to 1,000 meters; it was all upstream into a ferocious current running at least 3-4 mph, fed by the heavy rain earlier in the week and the rowers pulled the equivalent of several times that distance. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, and our races all went off at lunchtime, making the logistics quite smooth. Ron Gold won gold in his PR1 single event. Both our other rowers were racing for the first time; Sheila Savage rowed with volunteer Diana Costanzo in the PR2 double event and won silver; David Streich, who recently joined the club and was rowing in a double scull for the first time ever, was unfazed by the situation and brought home a gold medal, rowing with volunteer Alexander Lalire, and beating the entry from the Connecticut Adaptive Program.
Rockland U19 pick up a couple of silver medals at King's Head
Bridgeport, Pennsylvania - The second race of the head race season was rowed on the Schuylkill River at the King’s Head Regatta hosted by the Upper Merion Boat Club. Racing took place on Sunday.
In the boy’s single sculls Ryan Almond Clarkstown North ‘20 took silver in a field of 16, only ten seconds behind the winner from Nereid Boat Club (17:38) and two seconds ahead of third-place Whitemarsh (17:50).
In the girl’s novice single sculls Emma Deljanin, a thirteen-year-old eight grade student from Charles DeWolf Middle School was the youngest competitor in a field of five and managed to take silver covering the course with a time of 21:51. This was her second experience competing in a head race.
Racing in the boy’s double sculls, partners Billy Grippi Tappan Zee ‘20 and Adin Deljanin Northern Valley Old Tappan ‘21 were credited with a time of 17:08, which was faster than 13 boats and good for fourth-place behind winner Nereid Boat Club (16:17) and a pair of Germantown boats (16:24 and 17:03).
Next up the team will travel to Philadelphia on October 13 for the Navy Day Regatta.
Youth earn four medals at season opening Head of the Hudson Regatta
Albany, New York - Rockland Rowing opened the season at the 31st Head of the Hudson Regatta hosted by the Albany Rowing Center. Racing took place on Saturday.
Racing in the boy’s single sculls, Jake Bardorf Clarkstown South ‘19 and Ryan Almond Clarkstown North ‘20, wound up finishing second and third-place respectively in the two mile head race, among 16 entries. Bardorf and Almond finished five seconds apart with Bardorf finishing less than one second off first-place from Albany Rowing Center (11:24.66).
In the boy’s double sculls, Billy Grippi (stroke) Tappan Zee ‘20 and Adin Deljanin (bow) NV Old Tappan ‘21 had the second fastest time out of eight crews covering the course in 11:19.24, finishing behind first-place Mohawk (10:19.76) and ahead of third-place Orange County (11:30.85).
In the girl’s double sculls, Celeste Voutsinas-Klose (stroke) Nyack ‘20 and Hannah Hely Tappan Zee ‘21 took second-place in a field of nine completing the course in 12:20.76. First-place went to Mohawk (11:52.84) and Albany RC (12:30.61) finished in third-place.
Next up the team will travel to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania for the King’s Head Regatta.
RRA Masters Take on the World
Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida - Rockland Rowing's Competitive Adults’ team sent nine rowers to compete at the 2018 World Rowing Masters Regatta from September 27-30, including: Alec Almond, Scott Baird, Justin Bohan, Tom Chyla, Chris Hely, Leslie Horn, Kathy Kearney, Peter Klose and Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky. Also racing with Rockland were guest coxswain Elisabeth Tapley and guest rower Andrew Kalfelz.
The competition was fierce, with teams from around the world participating. Rockland's best result was in the men's quad, which finished with the third fastest time (3:10.071) among 35 crews entered in their division (age 50-55). Leading halfway through the race, they could not hold the lead, and a desperate sprint at the end was not enough as they ultimately lost by 1.7 seconds to a crew from Poland that finished with the fastest time of the day. In their flight they beat teams from Argentina, Peru, Boston, Colorado and Florida. The men's eight also did well, second in their flight to a Dutch crew. The excitement of that race was increased when it was called back after a first start where the composite boat from Virginia BC and Potomac BC veered into the RRA boat immediately off the start because their skeg had come loose - causing their coxswain to lose control of their steering. The RRA team kept their cool and regrouped for an even stronger start the second go around - finishing just four seconds off a very strong crew from the Netherlands.
Most other RRA entries finished mid-pack - a good result considering the competition. Everyone had a grand time and discussions regarding next year's Masters Worlds in Hungary are already underway!
Rockland County Times Names Rockland Rower "Volunteer of the Week"
Nyack, NY - The Rockland County Times, a weekly publication since 1888, shined a light on New City resident Diana Costanzo naming her Volunteer of the Week for her contributions to Rockland Rowing's Adaptive Rowing Team. Costanzo has been an avid rower and active volunteer since joining the organization in 2016. This is not the first time Costanzo has been recognized for lending her time and talent to inspire others. In 2017 she was the recipient of RRA's Coach's Award for truly exemplifying RRA's mission statement of improving lives through rowing.
Rockland rows to silver at Club National Championships
Camden, New Jersey - The Rockland boys took second-place and won silver in the under 17 double sculls and secured a top-15 ranking against teams from across the country in the under 19 single sculls at the 2018 USRowing Club National Championships held on the Cooper River on July 11-13.
In the double sculls Anthony Rostek (Tappan Zee '20) and Ryan Almond (Clarkstown North '20) dominated the time trial on Friday finishing with the third fastest time among 52 crews and confidently won the semifinal with the fastest semifinal time of the field. Crossing the finish line at a stroke rate of 41 in today's medal's race, the boys earned silver with a time of 7:34.769, less than two seconds behind Niskayuna's 7:32.950. Litchfield Hills took the bronze medal in 7:35.551.
Rostek and Almond are rising juniors who began rowing the double together in March and are part of Rockland Rowing's High Performance boy's team trained by Veli Etropolski, a world class rower and coach who most recently coached two boats to Youth Nationals this past spring.
The under 19 single sculler Jordan Irving advanced out of the time trial which saw 75 competitors, to the semifinals where he raced to a sixth-place finish with a time of 8:03.726, for 14th place overall.
This past spring Irving, Class of 2018, rowed for his Suffern High School scholastic team and is competing with Rockland before rowing at Marist College in the fall.
Next up the boys will race at the Philly Youth Regatta on July 21.
Third-place finish at IDR
Philadelphia, PA - The under 19 summer squad took to the Schuylkill River for the second time this summer at the Independence Day Regatta in the midst of a heat wave. Despite sweltering conditions the youth team fared well over two days of racing and thanks to an exciting new technological debut this year, viewers anywhere in the world were able to track race performance data which streamed from the rowing shells in real time on a live feed.
Competing in boy's under 19 single sculls were Ryan Almond Clarkstown North '20, Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20 and Jordan Irving Suffern '18. Irving, a newcomer to Rockland Rowing who recently graduated from high school and has been recruited to row at Marist College this fall, advanced the grand final and finished third overall in 7:34.57 behind Conshohocken (7:31.92) and East End (7:22.74). Almond and Rostek, while both still eligible to compete in the under 17 category competed up a division in the under 19 category and were successful in advancing to the semi-finals. Competing in the under 17 single sculls Celeste Voutsinas-Klose Nyack '20 also made it to the semi-final.
Next up the boys will race at USRowing's Club Nationals in Camden, New Jersey on July 11.
Top Two at Schuylkill Navy
Philadelphia, PA - A small group of high school student-rowers took a break from studying for upcoming final exams and raced at the Schuylkill Navy Regatta on Saturday. In the boy's single sculls, Ryan Almond Clarkstown North '20 was victorious in the grand final winning with a time of 7:54.86 while teammate Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20 was runner-up clocking in at 8:08.65. The boys bested nine competitors to secure the top two places in the field. The team also advanced two girl's double sculls to the grand finals.
Next up the team returns to Philadelphia for the Independence Day Regatta, June 29-30.
Grand Final at Youth National Championships
Rancho Cordova, California - Rockland Rowing competed in three events at the 2018 USRowing Youth National Championships and made the grand final for the first time in program history to end the spring season.
Lightweight Gabriele Welp IHA '19 raced in the openweight single sculls where she finished sixth in the grand final. The previous best performance for the team in this event was two years ago when Cassidy McGovern finished ninth in the country.
It was the first time in Rockland Rowing's history that the boy's team competed at Youth Nationals in the double and quadruple sculls where they finished 21st and 23rd in the country respectively. The line-up for the quad was stroke seat Billy Grippi Tappan Zee '20, Jake Bardorf (3) Clarkstown South '19, Anthony Feteira (2) Clarkstown South '19 and Matt Davidson Clarkstown North '19 in bow. Bardorf also raced in the double as a last minute substitute with Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20 in stroke seat.
Next up, the team will have their first race of the summer season at the Schuylkill Navy Regatta in Philadelphia on June 16.
Bronze at SRAA National Championships
Pennsauken, New Jersey - Rockland Rowing's Gabriele Welp, a junior at the Immaculate Heart Academy, captured bronze in the girl's varsity single sculls at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America's 80th annual National Championship Regatta on Saturday on the Cooper River. Races were contested over 1500 meters.
The girl's varsity single sculls had 16 entries. Welp finished first in the heat, second in the semi-final and ultimately took third-place in the grand final with a time of 6:14.220 behind second-place Schuylerville (6:12.596) and first-place Horace Mann (6:07.523).
The regatta is an invitational regatta for scholastic rowing teams where crews are invited based on their performance at a qualifying championship. Regatta rules allow for rowers without stand alone high school rowing teams, such as Immaculate Heart Academy, to petition for entry to represent their school in the single sculls. Welp's petition to the SRAA National Championship Regatta was accepted on the basis of showing substantive speed this season. Welp won USRowing's Mid-Atlantic Regional Youth Championship Regatta on May 13.
Next up, Welp will rejoin her Rockland Rowing teammates for the USRowing Youth National Championships in Rancho Cordova, California on June 8-10.
Rockland wins gold, earns silver, and three bids to Youth National Championships
West Windsor, New Jersey - The Rockland Rowing youth team finished the regular season on Mother's Day at the USRowing Mid-Atlantic Youth Championships earning two medals and three invitations to compete in the USRowing Youth National Championships in Rancho Cordova, California. Automatic bids are given to the top three eligible crews in the grand final.
Rockland received the first of the three bids in the girl's varsity single sculls after Gabriele Welp IHA '19 had an open-water victory in the grand final with a time of 8:42.153 ahead of second-place Germantown Academy (8:56.854) and four others. This is Rockland Rowing's third time claiming the regional title in the girl's varsity single sculls event in the regatta's nine year history. Cassidy McGovern Tappan Zee '16 won in 2016 and Shannon Pritzker Clarkstown '15 won in 2015.
The second bid received was in the boy's varsity quadruple sculls. This is the first time in program history for Rockland Rowing that this event has been qualified. The crew finished fifth-place in the grand final and third among eligible teams to earn a bid for the national championships. The lineup was stroke seat Billy Grippi Tappan Zee '20, Jake Bardorf (3) Clarkstown South '19, Anthony Feteira (2) Clarkstown South '19 and bow seat Matt Davidson Clarkstown North '19.
The boy's varsity double sculls was the third bid received for Rockland Rowing. This is also the first time in program history for Rockland Rowing that this event has been qualified. Stroke seat Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20 and bow seat Ryan Almond Clarkstown North '20 finished in fourth-place in the grand final in 7:38.426 less than one second off third-place, Navesink (7:37.972). First-place was Baltimore (7:32.698) and second-place was South Jersey (7:35.100). The duo was eligible for a roll down bid because they met a time standard having finished within five seconds of the last qualifying crew and one of the top-three finishing teams declined their bid to nationals.
In the girl's under 17 single sculls final, Celeste Voutsinas-Klose Nyack '20 took on South Jersey and Conestoga and emerged with a runner-up finish. Voutsinas-Klose placed second with a time of 10:32.851. South Jersey (10:16.783) was victorious while Conestoga flipped and did not finish.
Hardware at Long Island Rowing Championships
Bayville, New York - Rockland's under 19 team sent a crew to the grand finals in every event entered at the Long Island Rowing Championships, giving rowers two trips down the tracks at Oyster Bay. The day was highlighted by medaling in four events. All races were 1,500 meters and led with time trials in the morning and head to head racing in the afternoon.
The boy's junior varsity quadruple scullers stayed hot for another week finishing yet again in first place, this time with a lineup change in bow seat. The quad finished first in an eleven-boat time trial (4:53) and went on to cruise to an easy victory in the grand final (4:34) over second and third-place St. Joe's A and B (4:48, 4:56), Pelham A, B (5:05, 5:14) and Oak Neck (5:37). The lineup was stroke seat Billy Grippi Tappan Zee '20, Jake Bardorf (3) Clarkstown South '19, Anthony Feteira (2) Clarkstown South '19 and bow seat Matt Davidson Clarkstown North '19.
Chloe Young Ridgewood '18 advanced from the seven-boat time trial to the grand final where she took silver in the girl's varsity single sculls with a time of 5:47 behind first-place City Island (5:41) and ahead of third-place Sagamore (5:57) and three others.
In the girl's junior varsity quadruple sculls stroke seat Georgia Young Ridgewood '21, Celeste Voutsinas-Klose (3) Nyack '20, Hannah Hely (2) Tappan Zee '21, and bow seat Caroline High home school '22 advanced with the fourth fastest time to the afternoon final in a field of nine. In the seven-boat grand final, Rockland took silver clocking in at 5:21 two seconds behind winner Oak Neck and nine seconds ahead of third-place Pelham Community Rowing Association.
In the six-boat time trial for the boy's varsity double sculls, Anthony Rostek Tappan Zee '20 and Ryan Almond Clarkstown North '20 tied with Sagamore for the third-fastest time down the course (5:19). Later in the grand final, the duo secured the bronze medal in their event for the second week in a row with a time of 4:40 not far behind second-place East End (4:36) and first-place Port Rowing (4:34).
Next up is the regional championships at Mercer Lake on May 12-13.
