45°
Norwalk River Rowing Association's men's lightweight eight team made it to the national championships last year. Most of the crew members are back from that squad, and they will attempt to qualify for the U.S. meet this weekend in Lowell, Mass.
"They're definitely bigger and faster than last year,'' says Charles Huthmaker, NRRA's boys coach. "But so are the other teams." NRRA's team consists of included Westport's Kyle Mikesh, Darien's Brad Plunkett, Wilton's Jon Massari, Joe Torg and Ryan Lewis, and Ridgefield's T.J. Galowski, Trey Chapman and Tucker Klutey. Darien's Michael Weaver is the coxswain. The goal at the USRowing Northeast Junior District Championships is to make it in the top three and get to the national meet next month in Ohio.
"Our goal has been gold all year,'' says Huthmaker, whose team is unbeaten in three races this spring. "Last year we were just happy to be going to nationals. This year we expect better." Huthmaker predicts a hotly contested race, with crews from New Canaan, Saugatuck Rowing Club in Westport and Greenwich among the challengers.
Huthmaker says he has four crews competing this weekend, and would like to take three of them to nationals. NRRA also has a strong tam in the Men's Youth Varsity 4+. "The great thing about rowing is there's no timeouts," Huthmaker says. "You can't start over. Whoever shows up on the dock that day is the team you go with."
NRRA's girls team, coached by Brian Ambrette, will field a strong team in the Women's Novice 4+. (The plus is four rowers plus a coxswain). The team is comprised of cox Adrianna Marino of Norwalk, Caroline Demko of Norwalk, and Wilton's Anastasia Livezy, Kylie O'Connor and Madeline Vocke. The group is competing in the Northeast championships for the first time, and is new to racing this year. Demko came up through NRRA's recreation program.
"They really came together in winter training,'' Ambrette says. "We have high hopes for them in the future." Novice crews do not advance to the national championships. Ambrette is excited to see how the team will perform under the pressure of the Northeast meet. "We try to get them to channel that nervous energy,'' Ambrette says. "In novice racing it's the crew that makes the fewest mistakes that wins the race."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
