The Riverfront Recapture’s Boys Varsity 4+ Rowing Team, which includes several West Hartford high school students, has qualified to compete in the 2015 US Rowing Youth National Championships June 12-14.
By Katie Cavanaugh
Left to right are rowers: Barrett Shea, George Fiske, Brian McCauley, and Will Parsons. In front, coxswain: Jonathan Dumeer. Submitted photo
The Riverfront Recapture’s Boys Varsity 4+ Rowing Team had a successful spring season, and team members will have a chance to earn even more accolades when they head to Sarasota-Bradenton, FL, to compete in the 2015 US Rowing Youth National Championships.
The regatta will take place June 12-14 in Nathan Benderson Park. Riverfront is sending one boat of four rowers and a coxswain. The team will compete in three to four races in their event.
“Our overarching goal is to make it to the final day of racing,” said Christopher Hayes, the deputy director of Riverfront and the team’s rowing coach.
The rowers are Barrett Shea (Northwest Catholic), Brian McCauley (Conard), Will Parson (Loomis Chaffee), and George Fiske (Hall). Jonathan Dumeer, a junior at Watkinson, is the coxswain of the boat. “I’m the person who steers and makes all the calls during the race,” Dumeer said. “It’s a pretty complicated, fast-paced kind of job.”
According to Dumeer, this is the second time a Riverfront team has ever made it to nationals.
Hayes said the team’s success this spring was due to the hard work they put in during the winter training season. “With the amount of work we put in during the winter, we got the results we wanted in the spring,” said Hayes.
Shea, a senior at Northwest Catholic High, is one of the captains of Riverfront Rowing. He is happy with his boat’s improvement throughout the season.
“We peaked at just the right time,” said Shea. “This spring we finished strong when it counted the most.” According to Shea, the captains set a new precedent at the beginning of the season with the hopes of encouraging the rowers to put in their best effort. “The idea was that we are going to win every day. If we win at practice then we are going to win at the races.”
Shea learned to row at the Riverfront’s “Learn To Row” program. He began competing during his freshman year of high school.
“I decided to join the rowing team thinking it’d be easy, but never have I been so wrong,” Shea said. “It’s probably the toughest sport any high school or collegiate athlete can do.”
However, Shea said the difficulty of the sport should not deter kids from coming out and giving it a try. “Technique-wise it’s simple but not easy,” said Shea. “The room for potential is great.”
One benefit of learning to row at Riverfront is most people who take lessons or join the team have no prior experience, making the environment less intimidating.
“Since everyone is coming from the same place, it makes it a welcoming environment and easy to learn in,” said Hayes.
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Front to back, rowers: Barrett Shea (Northwest Catholic), Will Parsons (Loomis Chaffee), Brian McCauley (Conard), George Fiske (Hall). Submitted photo
Left to right:
Rowers: Barrett Shea (Northwest Catholic), Will Parsons (Loomis Chaffee), Brian McCauley (Conard), George Fiske (Hall). Coxswain: Jonathan Dumeer (Watkinson). Submitted photo
Team huddle pre-race with Coach Hayes. Submitted photo.
[…] Brian and Jonathan competed for Riverfront Rowing at the Head of the Charles in 2014, and also rowed in the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships in June. […]