Oak Ridge Today

Julio Sanchez hired as head coach of Atomic Rowing

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Julio Sanchez

Julio Sanchez

 

Coach Julio Sanchez has been hired by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association as head coach of Atomic Rowing.

Sanchez is experienced as both a rower and a coach, a press release said. He has rowed on elite national teams for Argentina and Spain, and he continues to compete at the national level as a master sculler, the release said.

Sanchez recently came back from Sarasota, Florida, after competing at the FISA Masters Worlds Regatta. He also had much success as the coach of the Spanish Junior National team, as well as U.S. teams such as Miami, Sarasota Scullers, and Westerville, the press release said.

“With Oak Ridge Rowing Association having the best rowing venue in the country, I am incredibly excited to get started and work with this team,” the press release said. “The club is filled with amazing and hardworking rowers that have welcomed me with open arms.” [Read more…]

Fisher, an ORHS graduate, competes in world rowing championships this week

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Local rower Kristopher Fisher participates in a signing ceremony with Temple University at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Local rower Kristopher Fisher participates in a signing ceremony with Temple University at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Local rower Kristopher Fisher, who attended Oak Ridge High School last year and signed with Temple University in February, will compete in world rowing championships in the Czech Republic this week.

Fisher and Cooper Tuckerman of Bozeman, Montana, will race in the Junior Men’s Double Sculls event at the World Rowing Junior Championships, which are scheduled from August 8-12 in Racice, outside of Prague in the Czech Republic. (You can see the start list here and the Heat 2 start list for Wednesday here.) More than 750 athletes from 57 nations are competing.

Fisher and Tuckerman swept the Men’s U19 2x at the USRowing National Team Trials in July, winning the best-of-three format handily with victories in both the first and second event, according to the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

On July 5, Fisher and Tuckerman were tightly matched by Jeremy Wolpert of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Michael Fairley of Saratoga Springs, New York, through the first 500 meters before pulling away in the middle 1,000, finishing in 6:56.41. The second place pair finished well back in 7:08.03. [Read more…]

Local rowers earn invitation to 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships

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Sarah Kate Rogers and Clara Hay

Sarah Kate Rogers, right, of Oak Ridge and Clara Hay of Knoxville qualified for the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships based on their medal-winning performances at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships earlier this month. Rogers won a silver medal in the Women’s Youth Single (WY1x), and, rowing with Hay, won a bronze medal in the Women’s Youth Pair (WY2). (Photo by Shannon Moore)

 

By Jim Rogers

The Atomic Rowing Junior program at Oak Ridge Rowing Association has qualified two rowers for the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships based on their medal-winning performances at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships earlier this month. Sarah Kate Rogers of Oak Ridge won a silver medal in the Women’s Youth Single (WY1x) and, rowing with Clara Hay of Knoxville, won a bronze medal in the Women’s Youth Pair (WY2).

In the single event, Rogers—competing against young ladies from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee—progressed easily through the 2,000-meter heats before narrowly losing in the final to Mikayla Dutton of Inverness, Florida, a 2016 University of Tennessee signee.

In the Women’s Youth Pair final, Rogers and Hay earned bronze behind strong performances from experienced crews from Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida. [Read more…]

Dogwood Junior Regatta to feature about 2,000 young rowers this weekend

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Dogwood Juniors Regatta

The Dogwood Junior Regatta will be in Oak Ridge from April 30-May 1, 2016. Pictured above from left are an Atlanta Junior Rowing Association crew preparing to race in Oak Ridge, an Atomic Junior Rowing racing crew, and youth rowers from Asheville Rowing Club preparing to launch. (Photos by Explore Oak Ridge)

 

Junior rowing, for those under 19 years old, has grown by leaps and bounds in the southeastern United States during the past 10 years. Whether due to the extensive opportunities for rowing college scholarships or the general improvement in quanity and quality of rowing programs offered, junior rowing is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the nation.

This weekend, Oak Ridge will welcome about 2,000 junior rowers from all over the Southeast and Midwest to compete in the Dogwood Junior Regional Regatta. The regatta is one of the largest in the Southeast.

A crew’s performance at the event will be considered heavily for seeding purposes at the USRowing Regional Championship, where rowers compete to qualify for the Junior National Championships.

“If you’re a junior rower (from the Southeast) you’ll want to be in Oak Ridge this weekend,” said Shannon Moore, head coach of Atomic Junior Rowing in Oak Ridge. “It’s going to be the best opportunity for crews to test their speed prior to the regional championships. This regatta will inform coaches on how to train for the weeks leading to regionals, and (it) can be the difference between qualifying for nationals or not.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Rowing hires head coach for Atomic Rowing programs

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Shannon Moore

Shannon Moore

Shannon Moore has been hired as the head coach for Oak Ridge’s Atomic Rowing programs, the Oak Ridge Rowing Association said Saturday.

Moore will direct the developmental and competitive programs for junior novices, men’s and women’s varsity, and adult rowing programs, the ORRA said in a press release.

Moore was a decorated rower for Ohio State University, was a member of the US Rowing National Team, and medaled in both the women’s 4+ and women’s 8+ races in the USRowing National Championships during her amateur rowing career, the press release said.

It said Moore has 17 years of coaching experience, including international, collegiate, and competitive club and high school programs. [Read more…]

Local rower finishes 6th in nation at USRowing National Championships

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Sarah Kate Rogers at USRowing Nationals

Sarah Kate Rogers sprints to a second-place finish in the final 250 meters of the Women’s Youth 1x Semifinal at the 2015 USRowing Southeastern Youth Championships. (Photo courtesy J. Rogers)

 

By Jim Rogers

Oak Ridge’s Sarah Kate Rogers continued her memorable run to USRowing’s 2015 Youth Nationals, overcoming windy course conditions and formidable talent to reach the Grand Final of the Women’s Youth sculling singles (WY1x). The Youth Nationals were held June 12-14, in Bradenton, Florida.

Rogers qualified for the Youth Nationals as a result of her victory in the USRowing Southeastern Regionals in May.

Her path to the National Grand Finals was not without significant drama. In her opening heat, she tangled with lane buoys early in the race, and despite a ferocious comeback, finished a narrow fourth. This forced her to the repechage, a last chance to qualify for the semifinals. She responded to that challenge, moving through her opponents to grab the lead at the halfway point and holding off a furious challenge from Rachel Pierce of South Jersey Rowing Club. On short rest, Rogers then out-sprinted Shelby Johnson of Capital Rowing Club in the semifinal to finish second and qualify for the Grand Final. [Read more…]

Local rower earns invitation to USRowing Youth National Championships

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Sarah Kate Rogers and Marc DeRose

Rower Sarah Kate Rogers, who has been invited to compete in the USRowing Youth National Championships in June, is pictured above with coach Marc DeRose. (Photo by Suzanne Rogers)

 

By James H. Rogers

Oak Ridge’s Sarah Kate Rogers has earned an invitation to compete in the USRowing Youth National Championships by virtue of her first-place finish in the women’s youth sculling singles (WY1x) at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships earlier this month. Competing against other young women from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee, she swept through the heats and won the 2,000-meter final in a time of 8:26.257, more than eight seconds ahead of any other sculler.

At next month’s national championship, which is from June 12-14 in Bradenton, Florida, Rogers will compete against as many as 27 other scullers through both heats and repechage for a coveted spot in the grand finals.

“The competition is incredibly tough,” Rogers said of the national event. “We all train and work as hard as we can to get to this point, and leave nothing on race day.”

Her competitors qualify from 11 separate national regions, and represent powerhouse rowing programs from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southwest, Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest. Rogers is unique in this regard, rowing as an unaffiliated rower under the watchful eyes of her coaching team, Shannon Moore and Marc DeRose. [Read more…]

Atomic Rowing Women’s Youth team wins regional gold, headed to nationals

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Atomic Rowing Women's Youth Team Practice

The regional women’s youth champions, Atomic Rowing, practice six days a week in preparation for the national championship races in Sacramento, California. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

About two months ago, the girls of Atomic Rowing’s youth team came to Shannon Moore, their coach, and said they wanted to go to the national championship race. Now, they’ve won the gold medal at regionals and are set to race at youth nationals in Sacramento, California, on June 21.

Since winning gold at regionals, in Florida earlier this month, they have been practicing six days a week. Moore said the team of girls, ranging from eighth to 10th grades, are hungry for a national championship title.

“They’re just determined,” said Moore, who started coaching the team in October of last year. She has been coaching professionally since 1998 and was even the assistant coach for Ivy League rowing at Columbia University in New York City. Now though, she thinks she’s found her niche with the juniors team here in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]