Lincoln rowers make nationals, place 6th

As the culmination of a year of hard practices, rainy days, and hard work comes closer, the nine crew members of Rose City Rowing Club’s Varsity 8+ sit on the start line of the most important race of their lives.

The crew has made it to the national championship, A final in Mercer New Jersey, racing the other five fastest boats in the country.

The boys in the Rose City boat come across the line in 6th place with a time of 6 minutes and 6  seconds.

After winning the Northwest regional championship regatta for the first time in 17 years, the boat’s momentum has continued to increase. Practicing 15 hours a week on the Willamette River and Vancouver Lake, the boat has been together for nearly the whole entire season.

While disappointed with their performance in the final, senior Rowan Freed, who sits in the  three seat, was still happy with the results of the season. “I am still extremely glad I had the experience of going to nationals and doing so well.”

It was the best-ever performance for  the Rose City Rowing Club men’s team. Now it is looking toward the 2017 season. While the boat from the 2016 season saw five seniors graduate, two of them becoming members of the USA junior national team,  Senior Paolo Bifulco is still confident that next year’s boat can be just as fast.

“Although it is hard to beat this year’s boat, I think next year’s boat can still make it to nationals and do well,” Bifulco says.

The club is now entering the fall season, where regattas feature 5,000 meter races, instead of the standard 2,000 meter ones. The club is waiting to see if they are going to be able to attend the legendary Head of the Charles regatta in Boston. If they do not get an invitation, they plan to head to Oklahoma for a different regatta.

For now, the team is looking to find a new combination of rowers to be just as good as the old boat.