New Canaan's crew won three races and earned four medals at the USRowing Junior Championships Sunday in Cincinnati. Andrew Campbell led the way with two gold medals.
"To be honest, we thought we could win three races,'' said coach Yan Vengerovskiy, who trains the team at Maritime Rowing Club in Norwalk. "We were confident, but you never know. You always keep those things inside your heart."
Campbell, a senior, won the Men's Youth 1x in 7:13.825 for the 2,000 meter course. His brother, Charlie, took sixth in the same event. Andrew also teamed with Alec Buckenheimer to win the Men's Youth 2x in 6:47.9.
New Canaan won the Men's Youth 4x with Will Danneman, Charlie Kelly, Aaron Tas and Roger Stone. They won in 6:26.862 and finished the season undefeated. Campbell also finished the season undefeated as a single and with Buckenheimer.
The Girls Youth 4x team took third with Marianne Hoeft, Stephanie Winsch, Mackenzie Bass and Jennifer DeCata. The Men's Youth 2x took fourth with Jonathon Rosow and Thomas Stolarski.
New Canaan also won the Women's Youth 2x C final with Lilly Gorman and Sarah Liffman, while Olympia Bordelon and Katharine Stevenson took fourth. The Men's Lightweight 8+ grabbed third in the petite final with Mac Reddin, Nick Flynn, Matt Podelsak, Sam Wiley, Conor Eagan, Oliver Viera, Alexander Vernon and Ned Berman.
Vengerovskiy called Andrew Campbell "one of the best junior athletes in the country" after the big weekend, which was New Canaan's best showing ever at the competition. "His times can be compared to some of the best seniors and under-23 athletes,'' Vengerovskiy said.
Campbell defeated defending champion Matt Maddamma in the final. Maddamma won last year in 7:36.99 and improved to 7:19:459. That still wasn't enough to catch Campbell. The New Canaan rower returned moments later to win with Buckenheimer.
"We got to the line and my heart was still going from the single, so it was tough," Campbell told USRowing. "I was confident in my training; I knew that I'd prepared to race two times in a row. It just happened."
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