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There's a new training area, new members and even a new coach among the crew at the Connecticut Boat Club. What hasn't changed are coach Liz Trond's expectations for excellence and commitment to building one of the best rowing teams in the nation.
The CBC moved to a new location this summer at the Oyster Bend Marina on Platt Street in Norwalk. Trond welcomed 37 members, an increase of nearly 50 percent. She and assistant coach Jim Sweitzer also welcomed aboard Charles Huthmaker, who had been executive director for the Norwalk River Rowing Association.
The moves all portend continued success for the CBC. The club won three gold medals at USRowing's Junior National meet in June. Many of its rowers have gone or committed to prestigious collegiate rowing teams. Rowers from throughout Fairfield County train with CBC. Thirty-one CBC rowers won gold medals at the Head of the Housatonic earlier this month, one of its first meets of the fall. It will send three boats to this weekend's Head of the Charles in Cambridge, Mass.
"This is the biggest fall team we've ever had,'' Trond said. "Two years ago we had 20, so we're continuing to grow. We'd like to have 40 to 45 for the spring so we can build some fantastic teams."
CBC worked during the spring out of the NRRA's facilities on Moody's Lane. Trond wanted to find a more permanent home, and parents of team members located the facility on Platt Street. The CBC does not have a boathouse. It stories the boats at its current facility, and the team trains there. For the winter, Trond wants to develop a relationship with a fitness facility for workouts. "I think it will be great,'' Liz says. "It's so much more efficient to put money into great equipment and training. We won three national championships with less than what we have now, so it can work."
Trond has worked at several clubs in the area and coached the U.S. girls team for the World Rowing Championships in August. This is her first experience running an organization. She embraces the challenge.
"It was never planned that way,'' she says. "You learn different things every day. It's really great, because when things go right you know that was the goal. If something doesn't go right, you can fix it. Everything is in my hands. We have a supportive group of parents, and that has been a tremendous help."
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