Southwest Regionals Results

On Sunday, May 5, 2019 at the 2019 USRowing Southwest Youth Championships, in the space of less than 20 minutes, Norcal’s men’s and women’s varsity teams combined to qualify three boats for Nationals. The men’s lightweight coxed four, women’s pair, and men’s quad will now travel to Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., to compete against the best crews from around the country.

That almost back-to-back-to-back success highlighted the strong performances of Norcal’s rowers and coxswains at the season-ending regional regatta on Lake Natoma near Sacramento. Nine months’ worth of hard work paid off over the first weekend of May with three silver medals, three bronzes, and a host of strong finishes. Norcal’s women finished seventh in the points trophy, and the men came in at No. 4.

Over the span of 60 hours from Friday morning through Sunday evening, countless calories were burned by athletes racing down the two-kilometer course, and coaches and staff running back-and-forth with oars and tools in hand. And the whole Norcal machine was powered throughout by a delicious supply of food—lots of food—from our happy and helpful parent volunteers.

From the shore, Norcal’s support crew cheered on every one of our boats as they powered up their sprints to the finish line. Coaches and rowers painted their nails in patriotic black and gold, a Norsecal flag made an appearance, and several of the varsity men shaved their heads in search of free speed. And to celebrate sending two boats to Nationals, the VM shaved off Coach Jarrod’s locks, too.

Many of our varsity leaders are seniors and will soon be heading off to row (and study) at schools such as Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Princeton, and Stanford. But our 2018-19 men’s and women’s novices are now rising varsity, and our club will be stronger for the legacy our graduates leave behind. May 1-3, 2020—next year’s Southwest Youth Championships—is less than 12 months away.