WORCESTER, Mass. -- Coxswain Lesleh Wright is no stranger to setting the bar high. Originally from a family of rowers in St. Catharines, Ontario, Wright was the first Canadian woman to go to the Henley Royal Regatta, and she served as coxswain of Canada's women's eight at the boycotted 1980 Olympic Games as well as the 1984 Olympics.
Here at the 2016 USRowing Masters National Championships, Wright coxed an astounding thirteen events for Chinook Performance Racing (San Diego, Calif.), and brought home gold for each one, helping earn her team the overall team points Ttophy.
"It's very humbling really, because we started as a group of friends trying to row together, and it just blew up," said Wright. "We were shocked last year when we won the women's title, and to be able to win the overall championship is amazing."
At an impressive 935 points, the team took the lead by nearly 200 points over second-place Cambridge Boat Club (Cambridge, Mass.).
Chinook was founded in 2014 by a group of San Diego rowers who wanted to row with like-minded women.
"We wanted to have a platform where competitive masters athletes could row," said Deborah Davis, one of the key founders of Chinook. "We think everyone is both a strong, fierce competitor and a good friend."
On top of the overall team points trophy, Chinook earned the women's points trophy for the second year in a row. Its 16 gold medals, 11 silver and eight bronze helped them take the lead over second-place Minneapolis Rowing Club.
The 53 medals won this week prove that even a new club can come to a regatta and perform well. As coxswain, Wright hoisted the large team points trophy over her head on the shore of the lake, the women and men of Chinook cheered around her.
"When was the last time you saw a group of adults looking this happy?" laughed Wright.
With 34 medals, Cambridge won the men's all-points award with 529 points. Station L Rowing Club's (Portland, Ore.) four athletes were the winners of the efficiency trophy, earning two gold and two silver medals out of six events entered.