In an extraordinary display of talent and commitment, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) crew team added three National Medals to their collection on Sunday at the USA National Scholastic Championships at Saratoga, N.Y. Battling primarily against exclusive preparatory schools with extensive private resources, publicly-funded, tiny LOLHS came through with an exceptional roster of results.
The girls 1st Varsity Four, pictured above, won silver in a time of 5:47.93, just four seconds behind the winners from The Winsor School, Mass.
The boys 1st Varsity Four, above, won silver in a time of 5:05.62, only two seconds behind The Gunnery School, Conn.
The girls 2nd Varsity Four won bronze in a time of 6:20:15 behind the Ignatius-Chicago Rowing Association, another preparatory school from Chicago, Ill.
The boys 2nd Varsity Four, with two freshman members, also qualified for the Nationals and were a close fourth in their very competitive race.
These wins build on the team’s clean sweep in the fours at the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association Championships, where both the Boys 1st and 2nd Varsity Fours and the Girls 1st and 2nd Varsity Fours, won the State Championships, which qualified them for this National Regatta.
The team is grateful for the support of Old Lyme Rowing Association, Region 18 School District and Lyme-Old Lyme High School and also WinTec Racing/King Boats, who loaned the 1st Varsity Boys a new boat for the season.
Several of the seniors are now going on to row for their chosen colleges including team captains Isabelle Foster (Stanford, Calif.) and Graham Richartz (Cornell, N.Y.) as well as coxwain Hanna DeBruyn (Bates College, Maine). Additionally, some team members have had the honor of being invited to National Development and Selection Camps this summer.