At Philadelphia’s Independence Day Regatta, held annually on the historic Schuykill River’s 2000-meter course, Olivia Clark of Norwalk won a gold medal in the Women’s Under 19 single event. Clark is a recent graduate of Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk.
Liam McDonough, of Pound Ridge, N.Y., won a silver medal in the Men’s Under 19 single, finishing just 3.6 seconds out of first place. McDonough is a senior at Fox Lane High.
The Norwalk River crew of Oliver Peacock (Wilton), Matt Rauccio (Wilton), Kevin Lenihan (Wilton) and Zach Johnston (Cross River) won a silver medal in the Men’s Junior 16 4x, and McDonough finished just 3.6 seconds behind the first-place boat.
The 4X, also known as the quad, is a sculling event – that is, each athlete rows with two oars.
The three Wilton residents attend Wilton High; Johnston attends John Jay High.
At the Club National Championships, held in in Bethel, Ohio, on July 15-17, the Norwalk River team of Chris Martensson and Kaare Andersen won a silver medal in the Under 19 pair event. In the pair, each rower uses one oar – sweeping, as opposed to sculling. Martensson, of Norwalk, is a senior at Brien McMahon High. Andersen is a Pound Ridge resident who is a senior at Fox Lane High.
On the first day of racing, the Norwalk pair competed in time trials against 32 crews from around the country, finishing fourth and advancing to the semifinals. They finished first in their semi the following day, with the second best time in any of the semis.
In the final, they surged into second place in the last 300 meters of the 2000-meter race. They missed first place by 1.5 seconds and were just 0.3 seconds ahead of the third place boat.
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