The 28th-annual USRowing Masters National Championships got underway Thursday at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After a short morning fog delay, heats in 13 events and afternoon finals in 43 events were contested.
In the men's heavyweight AA single sculls, Rob Ezold of Mariner Point Scullers won the six-boat final in a 3:37.48. Peter Nguyen of Chesapeake Boathouse clocked a time of 3:38.89 for second place, with Peter Hein of San Francisco Rowing Club following in third by just 1.9 seconds.
Community Rowing Inc. A won gold in the women's club B eight final to defeat Rocky Mountain Rowing Club. Community Rowing Inc. clocked a 3:15.28, to Rocky Mountain's 3:18:52. Capital Rowing Club finished third with a time of 3:18:98.
In the men's club C four final with coxswain, Riverfront Recapture A took gold with a time of 3:11:47. The crew of Sandor Becz, Mike Keenan, Pete Krause, Steve Galett and coxswain Chris Pelletier were able to defeat Capital Rowing Club's Brett Rini, Mark Comtois, Duncan Spencer, Craig McKay and coxswain Steffanie McKay in both the morning heat and afternoon final. Capital Rowing Club finished 3.96 seconds behind in the final, with Riverfront Recapture B in third place with a time of 3:18:11.
In the mixed quadruple sculls final, Ecorse Rowing Club's Michael Raisky, Carol Raisky, Deborah Bozenski and Philip Bozenski took gold in a 3:07.69. Undine Boat Club's Sibley Reppert, Jeb Besser, Regan Bernhard and Claudia Wagner followed by just 1.36 seconds for second place. Greenwich Crew took third with a time of 3:09.67.
Co-hosted by Oak Ridge Rowing Association and the City of Oak Ridge, the four-day regatta features more than 1,000 top masters rowers. Competitors range in age from 21 to over 85 years old and include past U.S. National Team members, as well as newcomers to the sport. This year 113 organizations will be racing for national titles in over 190 events.
Racing continues at 9:45 a.m. on Friday with heats and finals