Last Sunday, four Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) crew teams won gold medals at the Connecticut Public School’s Rowing Association (CPSRA) regatta on Lake Waramug, and also the state championship for both boy’s and the girl’s varsity 1st and varsity 2nd boats. These four boats all qualified for the national championships on the Occoquan River in Virginia for the second year in a row.
The boy’s varsity “3” boat took the silver medal in their class while the girl’s varsity 2nd “B” team won bronze in theirs.
The boys varsity 1st won in a time of 5.12.4, well ahead of Avon in the silver position, who came in with a time of 5.28.7, and Lewis Mills in the bronze berth with a time of 5.35.0.
The varsity teams focused on coxed fours, with the novice teams racing eights against 11 other public school teams from Simsbury, Farmington, Stonington, Guilford, Glastonbury, EO Smith, Litchfield, Middletown, East Lyme, Avon, and Lewis Mills from Burlington. This is the fourth year that the LOLHS high school crew team has brought home a state championship; their winning run started in 2012 when the boy’s varsity 1st four won gold.
The girl’s varsity 1st team won in a time of 5.59.03 ahead of Avon in the silver spot at 6.14.0 and Litchfield in bronze position in a time of 6.19.9. As well as four state championship cups, the team brought home the Perry Trophy, awarded to the school with the highest number of points gained across all races. This was a major achievement considering that the only ‘eights’ the team fielded were in the novice classes.
The LOLHS girl’s varsity 2nd “A” team won in a time of 6.25.9, just three seconds ahead of Avon with the LOLHS girl’s varsity 2nd “B” coming in for bronze in a time of 7.04.8.
Through bringing home gold, the four boats have qualified for the second year in a row for the USA National Scholastic Championship, which is being held the weekend of June 6 in Virginia, where three boats medaled for the school last year.
Prior to that, the team will compete in the NEIRA Championship this coming weekend. These sprint races take place on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
The growth and success of this small-town rowing program are really beginning to bear fruit. In addition to the varsity 1st and 2nd girl’s and boy’s boats qualifying for nationals, the girl’s varsity 2nd “B” won a bronze medal at the state championship and the varsity 3rd boy’s crew also won a bronze and has qualified for the first time for the NEIRA championship. Qualification for NEIRA is based on consistency across the spring season using a combination of wins and average times.
The team of 25 rowers and coxswains will compete on Saturday against 47 of the best public and elite private high school teams from across the New England region.
Three rowers in the team have transferred to Lyme-Old Lyme High School in order to row with the LOLHS team and with their sister team, the Blood Street Sculls, under whose banner the team competes in the summer and fall.
Coached by Louis Zubek and Steve Baranoski of Lyme-Old Lyme High School, this small public school gained attention last year when the boys fourof Liam Corrigan (stroke), Harry Godfrey, Jeremy Newton, Josh Swanski and coxswain Tom Crisp medaled at the Head of the Charles, the largest international regatta in the world.
Two of the boy’s 2nd varsity four, Peter Fuchs and Brandon Greene, also competed at the Charles event in a double with coach Paul Fuchs of Old Lyme, a former Olympic coach and still a record holder at the Head of the Charles.
In an exceptional accomplishment for a small, public school, several of the high school rowers including Liam Corrigan, Jeremy Newton and Maria Boyle, have been invited to Team USA identification camps to help select oarsmen for the 2015 Junior National Team that will compete Aug. 5-9, 2015, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Team parents and rowers asked LymeLine to express their appreciation to Region 18 Public Schools, the Towns of Lyme and Old Lyme and, in particular, their coaches — Zubeck, Baranoski and Ed McCusker — for their dedication to and support of the rowing program.
Hearty congratulations to all the rowers and their coaches for a huge accomplishment. My involvement with crew was at least 30 years ago when the boathouse was but a dream and we were a small group of parents simply supporting our sons and daughters and hoping they would last the race as we cheered from the banks. Congratulations to all those who have come aboard since and created this extraordinary program. I hope the new boathouse becomes a reality so that it is indeed “accessible” to all … and a program can include those with disabilities also. Go Old Lyme.
Working as a team always has it’s rewards. That each individual’s hard work is rewarded with a tremendous team accomplishment is the model for success in life. Each member of the crew teams are to be commended for their efforts and be encouraged to apply these efforts to whatever they want to accomplish with their lives.