The 2014 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta was at the Oak Ridge Marina on Friday and Saturday. Here are photos from the regatta on Saturday.
It was the 46th annual SIRA regatta. Results from the Friday and Saturday races are available on the SIRA website.
A video of Friday’s races are available on the USRowing YouTube channel here, and Saturday’s races are available here. [Read more…]
Penny Behling teaches youth and mentors of Emerald Youth’s Just Lead program the fundamentals of dragon boat racing on Monday at Melton Lake Park. (Photos by Sara Wise)
On Monday, Dynamic Dragon Boats came to Oak Ridge to prepare locals for the city’s Inaugural Dragon Boat Race scheduled for May 31.
Monday’s event served as a beginner’s guide to the city’s first event, but also hosted young adults in Emerald Youth Foundation’s JustLead group.
Penny Behling and her husband, Chris, own the Dragon Boat company, a Knoxville firm that participates in dragon boat events around the country. The pair said the sport is really gaining interest in the Knoxville area, with inaugural events in Oak Ridge and Blount County scheduled this spring and summer, as well as Knoxville’s Dragon Boat race June 21.
Dragon boats are long canoe-like boats adorned with the faces of Chinese dragons. They hold teams of 20 with participants arranged by size.
Behling said dragon boat festivals are gaining steam in the area simply because dragon boating is easy to do. This year, she has five scheduled events in Tennessee, and more nationwide.
“It’s very popular,†she said. “People realize they can do it and that it doesn’t take a super fit human being. This is something anybody can do.†[Read more…]
Marc DeRose
Marc DeRose has been hired as the new head coach and director of rowing at the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.
“We were absolutely blown away by the quality of the applicants,” said ORRA President Bob Franks. “Even with such great applicants, Marc was clearly the person for the job.”
DeRose comes to Oak Ridge from the University of Central Florida, where he has served as assistant coach of women’s rowing. His resume includes coaching the 2011 Canadian National Champion in men’s eight at St. George’s School in Vancouver, British Columbia. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Rowing Association boathouse at Melton Lake Park on the Clinch River.
After 13 years here, the head coach of the Oak Ridge Rowing Association is leaving the Secret City.
Allen Eubanks no longer works for the ORRA. The rowing association’s board agreed unanimously earlier this month that Eubanks was “no longer needed for the position he held,” ORRA President Bob Franks said Monday.
Franks declined to elaborate on the personnel change, which he called a business decision.
“He’s a good guy,” Franks said of Eubanks. “He’s going to be successful, and we wish him well.†[Read more…]
One hundred and eight rowers competed for national titles in 18 events during finals on Sunday, the last day of the three-day USRowing Youth National Championships in Oak Ridge.
After three years in Oak Ridge, the annual USRowing Youth National Championships will move west next year to Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s the first time the championships have been scheduled to be held on the West Coast, officials said. Before coming to Oak Ridge, the races had been held in Cincinnati each year since 1994.
Although it won’t host the Youth National Championships again next year, the Oak Ridge Rowing Association is bidding to host one of two USRowing events next summer, either the Club Nationals in July or Masters National in August, head coach Allen Eubanks said. [Read more…]
