ACRAs

Cougar Crew finished their season in strong fashion, traveling back to Oak Ridge Tennessee for the ACRA National Championships held May 19-21. Over 70 crews and 1,500 competitors participated in this year’s event. Coach Brevick raced seven crews at ACRA this year, four more than in 2022. Crews included a Varsity 8+, Varsity 4+, Novice 8+, 2nd Novice 8+, Men’s Singe, Men’s Pair, and a Women’s Double.

The Men’s Varsity Eight rowed an inspired race finishing 2nd in the Petite Finals to finish 8th overall against 30 other varsity crews. This is four positions better than their 12th place finish the year before. Following their race plan, the Cougars found themselves down a full length after the start but paced by first year coxswain Andrew Welsh and the senior stroke pair of Sean Swett and Mark Walker-Rittgers, the Cougars methodically, and with relentless power moved through the other crews to fall 1.2 seconds behind first place in a very fast time of 6:03. This race is worth watching. The link can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvZ83cpXwwA. Scroll/advance to the 5:39 mark to watch the start of this amazing race.

In the Men’s Single entry, Don Kelley rowed three gutsy races over the weekend to finishing 2nd in the Petite Final and an 8th place overall finish. Amazingly, ACRA was Don’s first time racing in a single! The Women’s Double of Alex Carper and Olivia Sloma had a very good weekend of racing. They won their preliminary heat on Friday to advance to the Finals where they again rowed well, finishing in second place and receiving a silver medal in this event.

The Men’s Novice 8+ rowed to a 12th place overall finish in a very competitive field and our 2nd Novice 8+ placed 5th in the Grand Final. Having two competitive novice crews bodes well for the years to come.

In other related news, Mark Walker-Rittgers from our varsity squad has extended his rowing career and is currently in training camp for selection to the 2023 World University Games which will be held in China in August.

Final Note: Final selections for the ACRA All-Region Teams have been announced. Criteria used in the selection process included 2,000 meter test results, performance of their crew, career racing results, individual performances and coach recommendation. Selections were made by the ACRA Board of Directors. Cougar Crew had four rowers named to the West Coast Region Team. The Women’s Team included our Alex Carper and the Men’s Team included Carter Mills, Mark Walker-Rittgers and Sean Swett. Congratulations go out to these four Cougars!

*Recap by Jim Austin