This past weekend, AJRA rowers competed at USRowing Club National Championships in Camden, New Jersey, to cap off the first ever elite summer camp experience provided by AJRA. Five rowers and two coxswains were selected to train this summer as an AJRA Elite squad, coached by Michael Gibel, and to then compete against teams from across the country in both pairs and fours in New Jersey. The five-day regatta provided valuable racing experience for our rowers, and the schedule of racing allowed them to each compete in several events. AJRA boats raced in events of all levels: in junior events, against other clubs with high school rowers, in intermediate events, which are open to both junior and college-aged athletes, and even in one senior event, which is the highest classification an athlete can race at the national level. The highlight of the weekend’s racing for AJRA was the Men’s Intermediate Lightweight Pair of James Virgo and Josh Brown, advancing to the final from heats and finishing 5th overall in the country. Without a doubt, all of our rowers will come back from New Jersey ready to bring AJRA to a new level in the fall.
Men’s Intermediate Lightweight 4+: (c: Jessica Geng ’14, Harris Kiefer ’13, Josh Brown ’13, James Virgo ’14, Joe Cecil ’15), 6th in heat
Men’s Junior A 4+: (c: Healy Chait ’13, Brown, Joe Milley ’14, Cecil), 6th in heat
Men’s Junior A 2-: (Milley, Cecil) 6th in heat
Men’s Intermediate 4+: (c: Chait, Virgo, Brown, Milley, Kiefer) 6th in heat
Men’s Senior Lightweight 4+: (c: Geng, Kiefer, Brown, Virgo, Cecil) 4th in final
Men’s Intermediate Lightweight 2-: (Virgo, Brown) 5th in final, (Kiefer, Cecil) 5th in heat
Several other AJRA athletes were also racing at Club Nationals, while training for other clubs during the summer.
US Men’s National Development Camp, Pittsburgh PA: Trevor Appier ’13
Crescent Boat Club, Philadelphia PA: Cassi Lobaugh ’13, Maggie Nugent ’13
Atlanta Rowing Club, Atlanta GA: Morgan Bean ’13, Katherine Christel ’12, Sarah Hudnall ’13, Maddie Wilson ’13, Alex Weeks ’12