| Ratajczyk Wins Gold! - Sunday, February 28, 2010
Andy Ratajczyk, the lone representative of JRC competing at the Sarasota Invitational Regatta on Saturday, braved the wind, rain and cold to win the gold medal in his Masters Singles event.
The regatta was held at the recently improved Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota County. While the course now features six fully buoyed lanes, the racing was marred by poor weather conditions. Racing began at 8 a.m., but organizers cut the competition short just after 11 a.m. About 650 athletes ages 12 to 80, some from as far away as Connecticut and Texas, had signed up to race in events which were scheduled to last until 5 p.m. Chief referee Bob Weiss called off the competition when the wind chill factor had dropped to 33 degrees on the 400-acre lake, which has little natural protection against the wind. In his post race interview, Ratajczyk said, “It was cold, wet and windy. Conditions were miserable.” Then, with his characteristic smile, he added, “But, I wun (sic). Growing up in Poland, this was nothing. When I was learning to row, we would have to steer around mini icebergs as we rowed upstream into a headwind both ways.”
Ratajczyk rowed relatively early in the regatta schedule, Event 4A, in a six boat race for Masters age 60 and up. As the youngster in the age handicapped race, Andy had to give time to all of the other competitors. Finishing behind Andy, with a slower raw and age-adjusted time, was USRowing Hall of Fame member Dr. Larry Klecatsky. Twelve other Masters single rowers competed in two younger age group races. Andy summarized the experience by saying, “Winning is fun.”
|
| Women's Jr Natl HP Sculling Camp Video - Sunday, February 07, 2010Check out the video below from the Women's Junior National High Performance Sculling Camp. Included in the video is Melissa Chavez (the good looking one in the light blue tank top).
|
| JRC Youth Movement Leads at Southern Sprints - Monday, February 01, 2010
At yesterday’s Southern Sprints erg competition held in Melbourne, FL, JRC’s youngest members (all with strong rowing bloodlines) placed first in three races. Isabel Wothe finished first in the Girls Age 11 race, while her twin sister, Maria, rowing in the Girls Age 12 race, also won her event. The Wothe twins are granddaughters of rowing icon, Dr. Al Salazar. Jack Kelley (grandson of Hamilton Dixon) also won the Boys Age 14 event. Among the other notable finishes,
- Conor White (Select Sculler rowing for Bolles) finished 2nd (6:34.2) out of 129 in the HS Ltwt Men’s event and 3rd (1:29.7) out of 27 in the HS Ltwt Men’s 500m Dash
- Youth Land Training Coach, Dan Fryer, finished 3rd (7:06.9) in the Masters Men 30-39 event;
- Brian Dowling finished 4th in the HS Men’s Coxswain event;
- Melissa Chavez finished 5th (7:32.4) out of 75 in the HS Women’s event;
- Mike Patterson (Select Sculler rowing for SJCD) finished 8th (6:42.4) out of 75 in the HS Men’s event.
|
| JRC Members Elect 3 Directors - Saturday, January 23, 2010At the club's Annual Meeting held January 23rd at Burrito Galley, members elected three members to the Board of Directors. Those elected were Susan Fraser, Barbara Sanchez-Salazar and Bob Schumacher. Write-in candidate, Peter King, was also elected, but declined to accept the position. Despite repeated badgering to accept the position by board member, Paulo Lorenzo, Peter King said, "Unfortunately, other commitments to my neighborhood association and a long daily commute prevent me from accepting the position. I will, however, serve the Board in a consulting capacity should the need arise." King previously served on the Board for many years and was club President from 2004 to 2007.
The Annual Meeting was considered a success (except by Dr. Salazar who did not receive his correct order of fish tacos) and capped a busy day for the club which began with a boat naming ceremony at the club's Arlington River boathouse. |
| Two JRC Select Scullers to attend USRowing Junior Men's National Team High Performance Sculling Camp - Thursday, January 21, 2010Two members of JRC's Select Scullers program were recently selected to attend the USRowing Junior Men's National Team High Performance Sculling Camp in Tempe, AZ on February 4-7. Conor White and Walker Wulbern, both in their junior year at The Bolles School, were among 17 youth scullers chosen from around the country to attend the 4 day camp. This is the second year that Conor was selected to attend.
Melissa Chavez, a senior at The Bolles School, who has rowed with JRC's Select Scullers for the past two years, was selected and attended the USRowing Junior Women's National Team High Performance Sculling Camp which was held January 7-10 in Tempe, AZ. Melissa, who was recruited by a number of college rowing programs, has recently committed to Boston College.
Bob Schumacher, coach of the Select Scullers, said, "It is gratify to see that the hard work and dedication of these three individuals to improve their sculling technique and speed has been recognized by the Junior National coaches. They all have very promising rowing futures." |
|