The Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) boy’s crew team has just finished one of the best seasons in their history sweeping the state finals taking gold medals in both the 1st and 2nd Four finals and then qualifying three boats (1st, 2nd and 3rd Fours) for the New England Championships– an extraordinary achievement.
In the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association State Championships held on a Saturday, May 18, on Lake Waramaug, Conn., the boys competed in the Novice Eight, 1st Eight, and 1st Four events, with all three boats advancing through the morning heats to the finals in the afternoon.
The Novice Eight boat had a strong showing with a fourth place finish in the finals.
In the Boys 1st Four final, Lyme-Old Lyme bested the competition finishing with an impressive eight and a half second lead over the second place boat from Litchfield to take the State Championship.
In a thrilling final, the Lyme-Old Lyme boys 1st Eight just managed to hold onto the slimmest of leads over a determined Simsbury team and secore vistory in the Boys 1st Eight State Championship, thus sweeping the gold medals for the Boys Varsity 1st boats for LOLHS.
Following a highly successful weekend at the Connecticut State Championships, and based on times from other races over the year, three LOLHS Boys boats were invited to participate in the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championships held on Lake Quinsigamond, in Worcester, Mass., on May 25.
It was a day-long event for approximately 900 oarsmen and oarswomen rowing in several hundred boats representing the best schools of all sizes from the New England area. The event also serves as the regional qualifying event for the 2013 US Rowing Youth National Championships held June 7-9, 2013, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with first and second place boats advancing
This year, Lyme-Old Lyme boys qualified three boats, the Boys 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fours to NEIRA. Of these three, the Boys 1st and 2nd Fours advanced through the heats to the Grand Finals for each event. This breaks all previous rowing records for the high school with the number of qualifiers representing the highest number ever to qualify in one year. Moreover, it is the first time ever for the school’s 1st boat to qualify.
The 2nd Four had a strong showing in the final, finishing fifth overall.
The LOLHS 1st Four battled it out in a very close race, finishing fourth.
Many congratulations to the boys, their coaches and the whole team for a memorable season!
A great article n our crew program – often overlooked!!