Earlier this month, students from Haddonfield, Cherry Hill and surrounding areas competed in youth nationals with the South Jersey Rowing Club as one of 224 teams from around the country competing across 44 events.
The team consisted of 54 young athletes, 32 of whom qualified for nationals by placing in the top four at the Midatlantic Regional Championships on Mercer Lake in early May.
The Rowing Club runs year-round and trains in the fall, winter and spring. It has attended the national championships annually for at least the past four years, according to Coach Lindsay Clarke.
Unlike a school group, the Rowing Club has students from seventh through 12th grade who hail from all parts of South Jersey.
“It’s honestly really fun,” Clarke said of the club. “I think it’s definitely a little bit different than teaching a school team. … It takes them (rowers) a little bit longer to learn how to work together and become a team, because they don’t have that immediate and imposed bonding thing of being at the same school. But I think it’s really fun for them to befriend and engage and learn and grow with people from all different areas and parts of the state.”
The team celebrated a number of wins at nationals:
- Women’s Para Inclusion double sculls: 2nd place, Lily Adkins (Haddon Township) and Soph Moore (Haddonfield Memorial High School)
- Women’s Under 17 double sculls: Boat 1: 4th place, Ellie McFadden and Joni Dececco (Haddonfield Memorial High School), Boat 2: 5th Place: Carmella Viglietta (Cherry Hill High School East) and Piper Russo (Haddonfield Memorial High School)
- Men’s Under 17 Quadruple Sculls: 10th place: John Rasmus (Paul VI High School, Haddonfield), Dylan Fauls and Gabe Rubin (Haddonfield Memorial High School), Andrew Cunning (Camden Catholic High School)
- Women’s Youth Quadruple Sculls: 12th place: Emily Jenkins, Addison Worton, and Liz Coffman (Haddonfield Memorial High School), Scarlett Steele (Haddon Township High School)
- Men’s Youth Coxless Four: 16th place. Sean Lemming (Haddonfield Memorial High School), Joe Conti (Paul VI, Haddonfield), Aiden Evans (Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill), Calvin Lymper (Cherry Hill West)
- Women’s Under 16 Coxed Quadruple Sculls: 16th place, Lucy Bielicki (Coxswain, Camden Catholic High School, Athira Kasthuri (Cherry Hill East), Keira Cody, Ella Pasqua (Paul IV, Haddon Heights), Abby Knoll
- Women’s Under 17 quadruple sculls: 23rd place, Zoey Kocher (Haddon Township High School), Georgie Ayscue (Haddon Heights High School, Haddon Heights), Kaitlyn Kouser (Haddonfield Memorial High School), Courtney Robinson (Delran High School)
“My favorite part was just being able to hang out with my teammates on one of the most prestigious and nicest race courses in the country, escaping the up-and-down weather of New Jersey for a consistent weather pattern,” said Calvin Lymper, a 17-year-old who has been with the team for the past three years. “My favorite part about rowing is the brotherhood of it all and just sharing experiences with my good friends.”
Although there were many participants, Clarke noted that the club team was relatively small compared with other local school teams. But they find commonalities.
“They support of each other,” Clarke acknowledged. “They’re really good at celebrating each other’s wins from top to bottom, which is really fun to see, and something we try to foster with them.”
She also noted that each team is very good at “not ever settling for good enough.”
“They’re always coming to us looking for ways to improve, whether technically, strength wise, pure determination or grit,” Clarke noted. “Every race, piece or practice, they’re always trying to find that extra edge to look at where they want to be.”
