Rochester Rowing Club of Minnesota

The Power Pull enlisted over 120 rowers this weekend competing in over 25 events including heats. Twin Cities Youth Rowing brought 24 competitors and won the Points Trophy. Everyone got a Power Pull T-shirt. Medals and mementos and Championship T-shirts were awarded. There were some terrific times posted. Results are posted at regattacentral.org.

https://www.regattacentral.com/index.jsp?section=overview&tab=regattas&id=1540

Or 'click' Power Pull on the left menu for a pdf of the results.

We thank everyone from the 9 clubs and unaffiliated members who participated from 4 states to make the event a success.

Next year is the 10th anniversary of the Power Pull and we are planning an even bigger and more regional North Central event. We will welcome returning and new rowers to the North Central Power Pull event in 2011.

Winter Training for Juniors starts with Ergometers moving Saturday January 2. Sessions will be 5PM-7PM W-F and 9AM-11AM Saturdays. We begin training at the Rec Center on Wed January 6. We use the locker rooms to get dressed to row, then move the ergs, and the gun goes off at 5:30 when the previous group leaves the gym.

Rowers are to participate in strength endurance workouts the other days of the week and are encouraged to join the X-C ski team for cross training M,Tu,Thu. evenings. Claire Richer and Sam Belhumer have already joined.

Looking forward to seeing new and current Juniors. - Coach Phil

Mark your calendar. RRC hosts the Ninth Annual Minnesota State Indoor Rowing Championships ('The Power Pull') at the Rochester Recreational Center on Elton Hills Drive on Saturday February 20, 2010. Events will include 2000 meter ergometer competitions for Juniors, Collegiate, Masters, and Veteran as well as lightweights. men and women, boys and girls will compete separately. We plan to start at 9AM and finish by 1PM. There will be prizes for first, and second place and a team prize for the school or club with the most first place finishes. Contact Phil Greipp with questions.

Calling All Rowers! Juniors, Parents and Adults!

Join us for a general membership meeting Saturday, November 21st at 1p.m. to elect board members and to discuss winter and spring training.
We will be meeting at the Richers' house, 4556 Lookout Pl. NW, Rochester, MN. Dessert and beverages will be served

Current and prospective members welcome.

For cold hands, pogies are the perfect solution. Fleece pogies are on sale at Row2k.com and there are patterns available on the web. http://www.rownw.com/Pogie.pdf or http://www.wwslalom.net/pogies/index.htm

A simple temporary solution is to cut holes on an old woolen sock. The oar fits through the holes and the sock fits over the hand. You need two holes for the inside hand so the hand can slide down the oar handle. You only need one hole for the outside hand or a sculling hand since the hand is on the end of the oar.

Keep it simple and cut two holes opposite one another in each of two woolen socks so you can row port or starboard. Make spares.

Keep your pogies clean and don't loan them out.

Two RRC Juniors had great performances at the Northwest International Rowing Association Regatta this past weekend. All races were 2000 meters except for the 400 meter sprint events and several Friday afternoon events which were shortened to 1000 meters because of winds at the start.

After placing second in their heat and first in the semi-finals, the RRC Junior Women's double with Claire Richer and Sam Belhumer won third in the finals on Saturday. They bested the Minneapolis Rowing Club double and 21 other boats from Canada and the United States.

Claire Richer placed 4th overall in the Junior Womens single event on Friday only 0.7 seconds out of 3rd place. She beat out 16 other competitors in an impressive performance during the heats and finals. She also came in a close 3rd in her heat in the singles 400 meter dash.

These young rowers did a great job. Claire, 15 and Sam, 16 were our two entries as our other Juniors moved off to college and other pursuits making the RRC achievement even more impressive. This was the first ever competition in the single for Claire and the first ever competition in the double for Sam. Congratulations ladies!

RRC graduate Astrid Wettstein also had a great day scoring victories in multiple events for Minnesota Boat Club. Her sister Marit sustained an ankle injury but also managed to compete as a coxswain.

At noon on Saturday, there was a beautiful Memorial row for Cheryl Wick. Click on the photo gallery on the left menu to see this and photos of Sam and Claire.

See Phil's blog (left menu) for information that new junior rowers and their parents need to know. This information is important for new adult members and members in general. Register to the website if you are a member. -Phil

June 12-14 US Rowing Youth Nationals - It was a calm day on Lake Harsha and in a very close singles final Astrid Wettstein finished a close 4th place seconds behind first and less than a second out of third place. Said Astrid, "I don't remember rowing one bad stroke". Indeed she and the third place rower closed on the field as the race came to a close. All the work and effort paid off as Astrid did Rochester and the Rowing Club proud. Her sister Marit and friend Natalie rowed very well in the lightweight double events - The mighty mites were outgunned by bigger competitors but rowed a clean and smooth race. Thanks for making us proud.

Astrid Wettstein, Natalie Stoppel, and Marit Schultze, qualified Sunday, May 17, at the Midwest Juniors Rowing Championships in Cincinnati, for the 2009 USRowing Youth National Championships. Astrid qualified in Girls Varsity Single, winning gold. Natalie and Marit qualified in Girls Lightweight 1st Varsity double, winning silver. Crews qualify for a Youth National bid by placing in one of 18 Youth National Championship events in a recognized qualification regatta.

The 2009 US Rowing Youth National Championships will be held June 12-14, 2009, at Harsha Lake outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The regatta will feature more than 1,300 athletes from 140 programs competing for national titles in 18 events. Nationals information can be found at http://www.usrowing.org/Events_Regattas/YouthNationalChampionships/

Other Rochester Rowing Club members who, while they did not qualify for Nationals, rowed their best races of the year in very tough weather conditions.

Girls 1st Varsity single FINAL - Astrid Wettstein Gold Medal
Girls 1st Varsity Ltwt double FINAL - Natalie Stoppel and Marit Schultze Silver Medal
Boys 1st Varsity double FINAL - Patrick Glander and George Munger 6th Place
Girls 1st Varsity Four C FINAL - Emily Howe, Elli Jacobson, Claire Richer, Sam Belhumer and cox Kristen Wiseman 1st place
Girls 1st Varsity double PETITE FINAL - Emily Howe and Claire Richer 1st Place

The general link to Midwest Junior Rowing Championship results can be found at http://www.racetrak.com/

John Bartucz and Peter Wettstein will be coaching the trio in preparation for Nationals. Phil Greipp is President and Junior Coach of the Rochester Rowing Club.

This story was prepared primarily by E. Christine Schultze, mother of Marit Schultze and Astrid Wettstein.

RRC coxswain/rower in the news - Post Bulletin online May 18
Undaunted RRC Juniors coxswain/rower Natalie Stoppel shared her impressions of 5 years of rowing with a Post Bulletin reporter last week. In an interview with online edition's Edie Grossfield, Natalie enthusiastically shared her story. The story and video will appear on Monday May 18 at http://postbulletin.com just as Natalie and the team return from the USRowing Midwest Juniors Championships in Cincinnati.

Natalie graduates this year to go to St. Cloud State where she will continue her significant contributions to rowing and coxing.