BAYADA Regatta 2018 almost didn’t happen! Leading up to the race, the weather was not looking great and there was a chance it would have to be canceled altogether. However, there is regatta lore about the weather at BAYADA Regatta: When Mark Baiada shows up, he brings the sunshine with him. And that is EXACTLY what happened.
Once Mr. Baiada got to the boathouse, the sun shone brightly on our athletes for most of the day. Our first race was Katherine Valdez, PR1 single. Since she was the only woman in her event, she raced alongside the PR1-Men Singles event. While Katherine knew she would definitely receive Gold, being the only woman in her category, she came in second within the heat against the men!
Wilson Cheung, Jessica Salas, and Samuel Ho raced for the first time in Novice and Competitive events with our coaches, Agnes Kvasz, Veronica Castillo, and myself. They all did well and were excited about racing for the first time.
William Choe, PR3-ID, and Claudio Ochoa, a visiting coach from Chile, competed again and took home Bronze. Although they took off 50 seconds from their Gold win last year, our competition was fierce! We were excited to see how competitive this event became.
Eric Navarro raced in the Recreational event with me and the energy in that boat was always positive and exciting!
Everyone had a wonderful time at BAYADA Regatta 2018 and it’s still my favorite race! Our team really loves the passion BAYADA staff and volunteers put into this race. The passion is evident because they have athletes with all types of disabilities in a competitive setting.
We are very grateful for all our athletes, coaches, and Denise Aquino, Director of Community Rowing, for her help. Cheers to Breanne Fitzsimmons, Queens Youth Program Manager, for safely getting our shells to Philadelphia and helping us throughout the day. Thank you to Chloe Rosario for the amazing photos of the event. Thanks to our athletes and all their families that came to support our team at this regatta.
Cover Photo by Chloe Rosario
See more photos on our Facebook.
