The Junior Program at The Saugatuck Rowing Club was started in 1993. Since then numerous young athletes have not only experienced successful junior rowing careers but have been sought out by top universities including Harvard, Brown, Cal-Berkley, UPenn, Georgetown, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, Syracuse, Hobart and Bucknell. Several juniors have also gone on to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships and Under-23 World Championships. Lucy Grinalds placed 6th in the Junior Women’s 4- at the Junior World Championships in Linz, Austria. Richard Klein (’04) rowed in the lightweight 4x at both the 2006 and 2007 Under-23 World Championships, winning a silver medal in 2006. James Donovan (’06) rowed the lightweight 2x at the same regatta in both 2007 and 2008, making the final in 2007. Rickey Visinski (’03) rowed the single in the 2003 Junior World Championship, and Catherine Starr (’01) won a gold medal in the Women’s 4- at the 2005 Under-23 World Championships. Most recently Nick Lacava (’05) was named to the Lightweight 4- for the 2009 World Rowing Championships.
Every year many of our junior rowers represent SRC at races such as the USRowing Club Nationals, Canadian Henley, USRowing Youth National Championships, and the Head of the Charles. In 2009 Owen Traynor and Max Meyer-Bosse won the gold medal in the 2x at the Youth National Championships. Max also took gold in the Jr. B 1x and then paired up with Graham Anderson to win gold in the Jr B 2x at the USRowing Club Nationals. Susan Greenberg took 3rd in the Jr B. 1x at Canadian Henley. At the Head of the Charles Max and Graham took 3rd in the Youth 2x while Alex Zadravec and Kathleen Taylor also took 3rd in the Youth 2x. Chris Smith, Conor McLaughlin, Mike Davidson, Ryan Shimizu, and Jack Carlson took 5th in the 4+.
The Saugatuck Rowing Club’s Junior Program is open to both boys and girls ages 12-18. Practices in the spring, summer and fall seasons are primarily on water training with some land training, while the winter season is completely indoors. In all seasons, young athletes learn the importance of teamwork while having fun, meeting new friends, and developing competence in the sport of rowing.
SRC’s goal is to enable all interested young people to reach their maximum potential, for both recreational and competitive rowing. For that reason, participants in the Junior Program need not be the children of members, though members’ children have priority if there is a wait list.
For more information on our Junior Program please contact our Junior Program Director Sharon Kriz at 203-221-7475.
