Juanita senior Josh Warnick rowed in the Sammamish Varsity Men’s 8+ that took gold with a time of 6-minutes, 03.909-seconds, more than three seconds in front of their closest competitor, Pocock Rowing from Seattle.
Lake Washington junior Geiger Swanson and Cambridge Juanita freshman Wynn Wee raced in the Men’s Lightweight 8+ that also took gold at Vancouver Lake during US Rowing’s Northwest Regional Youth Championships that took place May 15-17 this year in Vancouver, Wash. The Lightweight Men’s 8+ crossed the finish line of the 2,000-meter course in 6:26.975 more than two seconds in front of their nearest competitor, Everett Rowing Club.
Sammamish Rowing Association’s Women’s Lightweight 4+ also took gold at this regatta and will be heading to Florida to race at US Rowing’s Youth Nationals as well. Rowing in the lightweight category requires the women to weigh in at 130 pounds or less and the lightweight men’s category requires that all rowers weigh 150.0 lbs or less in order to race.
Sammamish Rowing had an extremely strong showing, taking gold in the Men’s and the Women’s Second Novice 8+s, silver in the Men’s Novice 1x and the Men’s Second Novice 8+, and bronze in the Men’s Third Varsity 8+, the Women’s Varsity 4+ and the Men’s Novice 8+.
US Rowing Youth Nationals brings together 1,500 high school athletes from 150 programs across the country. This year Nationals is held at an Olympic class venue at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL.
The Sammamish Rowing Association is located in Redmond on the Sammamish River near the north end of Lake Sammamish. More than 130 high school students from all over the eastside participate in this great community resource that exposes people to the sport of rowing from tweens to senior citizens. The high school athletes train Monday through Friday during the entire school year two and a half to three hours per day and compete locally, nationally, and in Canada. Sammamish Rowing has a place for both recreational and competitive rowers, regularly holds “Row for a Day” events for people interested in the sport to give it a try, and offers “Learn to Row” classes multiple times during the year. During 2015, more than 550 people have been a part of Sammamish Rowing. Check out www.sammamishrowing.org for more details.
