In just its second year, RowAmericaRye had a successful weekend, October 18-19, at the 50th Head of the Charles regatta, one of the most prestigious races in the world in which 10,000 rowers participated.
By Melanie Cane
In just its second year, RowAmericaRye had a successful weekend, October 18-19, at the 50th Head of the Charles regatta, one of the most prestigious races in the world in which 10,000 rowers participated.
RowAmerica’s Megan Slabbert, a UCLA recruit, took third place in the Womens’ Singles. Alex Slabbert, a UVA recruit (2014 double silver medalist at the Youth Nationals) came in fourth, a few seconds behind her sister. In only her second month of sculling, Katelyn Karrick took 14th place over all. In the Womens’ double event, sophomores Fiona Aronson and Caitlin Cornacchia came in 23rd out of 40+ boats.
The boys performed well under the leadership of Coach Aleksandar Radovic. Spencer Sands had a solid performance, coming in 13th among 30+ rowers in the Mens’ Singles. Leon Chambers and Talal Sadik took 17th in the Mens’ Doubles and qualified for direct entry into next year’s regatta.
The big story of the weekend was the Adult Men’s 4+ (ages 40-49) who trained for the first time this season out of the Milton Road boathouse. They won their event and set the course record. The rowers, who all rowed in college and are members of The Palm Beach Rowing Association are: Heidi Hunsberger, Cliff DeSouza, Deaglan McEachern, Toby Ayer, and Jody Marcon. They were runner-ups the past two years, but after hard work and following the training program designed by RAR coaches, they had a break-out performance. Coach Marko Serafimovski looks forward to continue working with this group and hopes that it will grow bigger.
Serafimovski was pleased with the teams’ results. “The performance in the Head of the Charles is another step in training that give us an overview of how the athletes are doing and where they stand. Also, like any major regatta in the country, this one was good exposure for the rowers to college coaches; rowers are amongst the most highly recruited athletes in the country.” He added, “We believe that with hard work, a well-structured program, and a high-caliber coaching staff we can be one of the top performing clubs in the nation.”
RowAmerica plans on taking a varsity and a novice team to the next regatta, the Head of Schuylkill in Philadelphia on October 26.
