Saturday, April 16th, AJRA traveled to Clermont, Florida to race in the Florida Sprint League Championship regatta. This race is a unique opportunity to race some of the fastest junior rowing teams in Florida, using a three-round race progression to provide intense one-on-one match ups. This year, however, strong winds and thunderstorms were threatening the whole weekend, so the regatta was condensed to a finals-only schedule, racing up to 8 boats across in a winner-takes-all format.
Battling strong winds, whitecapping waves, and very tough conditions, AJRA boats competed at the highest level and posted excellent results. For the first time in club history, the women’s varsity 8+ won their event at FSL with an open water victory. The men’s varsity 8+ finished second to Winter Park by less than 2 seconds, and both the men’s and women’s 2nd Varsity 8+’s won their events as well. AJRA also raced 9 other events, posting top 3 results in every category, along with wins in the men’s 4th and 5th Varsity 8+’s.
AJRA Executive Director Sarah Low was proud of the team performance, both on and off the water. “It was a hard regatta for all teams involved, with challenging weather and last minute schedule changes, and all AJRA rowers really stepped up ready to compete. Our novice squads held composure and learned a lot about racing through tough situations, and our varsity squads posted the strongest FSL results in years. Additionally, it was great to see the camaraderie on the dock as boats were coming back in from racing — rowers from all teams helping get boats safely out of the water and working together to move quickly.”
Results can be found on Row2k. You can also check out photos from the event on AJRA’s photo page!