NBRC has medal haul in Oregon

It was a great weekend of racing as the North Bay Rowing Club traveled to Eugene, Oregon for the Covered Bridge Regatta, where NBRC members won seven gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

Participating were 546 entries representing 28 West Coast clubs.

Getting off to a great start to the regatta with a third-place finish in the Women’s Junior Single, North Bay proceeded to win five events and medal in two other events before the weather turned bad, postponing the afternoon racing.

The postponed events were added to the end of Sunday’s schedule, which saw more success for the Petaluma club.

“Traveling to away regattas is not only an important part in the season because it exposes the kids to unfamiliar teams and tests their skills, but also because it opens their eyes to what the wider rowing community is like,” said novice girls coach Steve Genise.

North Bay finished the weekend fourth out of 16 junior clubs, missing third by .1 percentage point.

“I am really proud of the effort of the squad as a whole. We have been coming up to this race as our final rehearsal for Southwest Regionals in May, and I think that we have found some great speed over the course of the spring season. I am excited to head to Regionals with this experience under our belt,” said head coach Will Whalen.

North Bay next competes at Southwest Regional Championships in Rancho Cordova, where it will compete against close to 40 teams from California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Racing in the regional championships begins May 5 and continues through May 7.

This was also the first race of the spring for the North Bay Masters teams, the adult programs that the club offers for all levels of experience.

“Many of my Masters rowers are the parents of the junior rowers,” said Genise. “For them, this is a way to get involved with their child’s interest in a way that was previously impossible.”