It was a great year for Row New York Manhattan!
High School
The High School team competed at seven regattas and two scrimmages. The novices learned to row in all boat classes available at PJS except for the pair. At the end of the spring racing season, the novice team competed at Northeast Regionals for the first time ever. The novice and varsity teams raced at Mercer Lake Sprints, a very fast and well-run regatta, for the first time ever.
Some participants traveled very far! Athletes came from as far as Staten Island, Flushing, and Long Island, and they are very dedicated. Over the winter, we greatly increased our tank visits by traveling to the tanks at Sarah Lawrence University twice a week.
Middle School
Over the winter, the middle school team competed in indoor rowing regatta Strong Island Sprints. Then in the spring, they competed at the Middle School Super Sprints hosted by Row New York Queens. The team has been focusing hard on proper rowing technique and basic fitness. Additionally, the team has bonded really well together and is supportive of each other. Ian, Manhattan Middle School Program Coordinator, has added an extra optional practice on Tuesdays during the regular season.
Notable Results
World Record
Vaughn Parker broke the world record for the Million Meter Row for the Male 19 and Under Lightweight category. When Vaughn began the challenge, no one had attempted to break it but on the third day into the challenge, someone broke the record in 101 days. Vaughn’s time was 12 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes!
Northeast Regionals
Both Novice 2xs made the grand finals and finished 4th and 6th overall.
New York State Championships
The Novice 4+ placed 3rd overall. The Novice 4x placed 6th overall in the VARSITY 4x event! The Women’s Junior Varsity 4+ placed 3rd out of clubs. The Men’s Lightweight 4x placed 8th in grand finals. The Women’s Varsity 2- placed 6th in the grand finals. The Men’s Varsity 2- placed 5th in the grand final.
Swimming
100% of the varsity team passed their swim test, 86% of the novices passed their swim test and 84% of middle schoolers passed their swim test. Impressive!
Academics
The student-athletes finished the year more focused and showed up to academics ready to work. Sergio passed his global studies exam! The young men’s dinner was a ton of fun, the athletes had the opportunity to meet a UFC fighter and a former NFL player. Likewise, the young women’s dinner was a good opportunity for the girls to strengthen their networking skills and learn about prospective careers. The Hachette Book Group visited and athletes had the opportunity to meet publishing professionals and walk away with as many books as they could carry in their arms! During the students’ winter break, they visited Brooklyn College, NYU Tandon, Cabrini College, U Penn, and Villanova.
Coaches
We had an almost a complete turnover of staff, all of whom learned and grew into their roles really well. I am excited that Gabby, Ian, and Ricky will all be returning Peter Jay Sharp (PJS) Boathouse next year. The coaches overhauled the training plan for everyone: middle schoolers, novices, and varsity. Jackie spoke at her first coaches conference and got married! Gabby got her drivers license and a new knee! Ricky went to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway twice and went to Iceland for a weekend! Ian went to Ireland and he’s living his best life.
Events
Row New York Manhattan hosted countless site visits at the Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse for our supporters and funders.
Earlier in the summer, Deloitte volunteers completed some much-needed maintenance. Among other things, they painted the inside of the boathouse and installed lockers.
We joined 8,000 afterschool sites across the nation to celebrate the Afterschool Alliance’s Lights On Afterschool initiative. We welcomed New York State Senator Marisol Alcantara, Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, Director of Education and Environmental Policy for the office of New York City, Allison James, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, and District Manager for Manhattan’s Community Board 12, Ebenezer Smith; to present a proclamation from Governor Andrew Cuomo and participate in our first-ever boathouse lighting ceremony.
Improvements
To improve our efficiency and communications, we started using TeamApp.
To improve the kids’ health and college access, we rolled out a nutrition talk and college rowing recruiting workshop for all of the athletes at PJS. We intend to continue to host both annually. To help the student-athletes improve their mental health, we brought in two guest speakers: Dr. Rob Udewitz, a sports psychologist, who spoke about how mental skills training can positively impact performance and Christa Samaras, US National Team Lacross player, who gave a “Bravery Training” to our Queens and Manhattan varsity participants.
We purchased weightlifting equipment for PJS, which allows us to keep the team together in one location over the winter. Additionally, we had a massive influx of new equipment to support our growing Scholastic Rowing League (SRL) programs.
Five volunteers came to practice every day as land coaches for the spring season. This ensured that all Row New York coaches were able to go out on the water every day with the athletes, even if we could not fit all the extra athletes in coaching launches. Having land coaches every day was such a great help to us!
Looking Ahead!
All five Row New York Manhattan seniors (pictured below) have graduated and will attend college in the fall. We look to build on the foundation we have now. A lofty goal for the fall is to start all of the novices on September 6th through a big recruiting push we plan to do this summer.
