CAMDEN, N.J. - Last year in Grand Rapids, Mich., Chinook Performance Racing's crew was sharing 12 jerseys between its 26 crew members. This year, the young Maryland based group is currently leading the women's all-point trophy race with 296 points.
"Last year we were so new that we didn't even know how big we would really be," said Nancy Dynah, one of the club's board of directors. "No one really knew who we were and we were still deciding who we were, really. We only brought those 12 jerseys so we would have to race and then strip 'em off and hand them to our fellow boat mates. It was certainly a good way to bond with your teammates!"
Playfully nicknaming themselves "the ninja team", the crew has seen exponential growth over the past year and hopes that as they continue to gain boat speed, they gain interest as well.
"We don't approach people about being members, anyone is free to contact us and look into joining," said fellow board member Deborah Davis. " We may have started off small but we decided long ago that we wanted to row with like-minded women who wanted to be fast and race competitively. We couldn't be more happy with how that has turned out."
With members from San Diego all the way to Millington, Md., the Chinook crew has taken a commanding lead of the women's all-point trophy as well as making a serious contention at the overall all-points trophy.
In the overall points race,Saugatuck Rowing Club was able to make a late push in the points to take the lead over San Diego Rowing Club and Chinook as only 11 points separates first and third.
With 222 points, Potomac Boat Club currently holds a commanding lead of the men's overall points race.
Multiple finals came down to exhilarating photo finishes but none as jaw dropping as the final of the women's open A pair as Community Rowing Inc.'s Emily Parfit and Elizabeth Christmas were able to keep St. Louis Rowing Club's Patricia Milla and Susanne King off the podium after edging their bow ball in front by 0.006 seconds.
In one of the last races of the day, the regatta's oldest competitor Earl Johnson and his son Daniel claimed silver in the parent/child f/s c-f double sculls race in a time of 4:07.144.
In total, 54 champions were crowned as racing came to an end on Friday night.
The 2015 USRowing Masters National Championships will continue on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. with heats in the mixed B double sculls.