New Canaan Crew and Maritime Rowing earned six invitations to the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships by earning top medals at the Northeast Regional Regatta on May 21.
Ned Berman, Nick Flynn, Sam Wiley, Evan Toriano and Samantha Estrich (cox) took first place in the Men's Youth Lightweight Four.
Later they added to their medal count by rowing with Alex Vernon, Merrit Cullman, Oliver Viera and Eddie Nilan to earn silver in the Men's Youth Lightweight 8, coming in just behind powerhouse Community Rowing from Boston.
In the Open Weight quad event, Charlie Campbell, Henry Franco, Jonathan Rosow and Scott Yanoff crushed their competition by more than eight seconds to win gold, while Graham Mink, David Kircher, Ross Burnaman and Tucker Klutey battled to the wire to earn the bronze medal and a coveted invitation to Nationals.
Peter Tortora and Alex Buck also earned their ticket to Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the national championships with a bronze metal in the Men's Youth Pair.
This regatta was unlike any other this season. To compete in the finals at Northeast Regionals, a team first must win one of the three top spots in preliminary heats and semi-finals. All of the varsity entries for New Canaan Crew and Maritime Rowing reached the semifinals, and most made it through to the finals.
The conditions were less than optimal. The heavy rains raised the river and accentuated its current. As a consequence, stake boats, commonly used to hold boats at a starting line, could not be used as rowers could not maintain a line in the strong current. Additionally, the small lane-marking buoys rower use to steer a straight had to be removed because they were floating against one another.
"These were very difficult racing conditions, coach Yan Vengerovskiy said, and the kids continued to show excellent strength and good speed. While I'm very proud of those who earned the right to compete at Nationals, we had a very strong showing from all our rowers."
Coach Nate Kelly added: "Given the conditions of the day, our athletes were able to rise above the obstacles and row mature races."
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