A pair of junior rowers from the San Diego Rowing Club (SDRC) is moving from Mission Bay to the big time. Joe Thaxton and Jason Perone are currently cutting the waters at the USRowing Junior Men’s Sweep Development Camp, held June 22 to July 19 at Three Rivers Rowing Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa. “They are the next generation in a long line of San Diego Rowing Club athletes,” said SDRC coach Art Sloate. The invitation-only camp invited 36 athletes (31 rowers and five coxswains) born 1992 or later. At the camp, boats will be formed for the USRowing Club National Championships held July 15 to 19 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and one boat of eight will be selected to compete in the CanAmMex Regatta July 11 to 19 in Mexico City. “These two just have one season of experience rowing yet have been invited,” Sloate said. “That is quite an accomplishment.” Thaxton and Perone were invited to the camp based on performances in events such as the USRowing Southwest Junior Championship Regatta in May and their erg scores on rowing machines at the club. Their success is impressive considering they first picked up oars at SDRC last September. “It’s not all about your physical ability,” Thaxton said. “It’s more about your knowledge of the proper blade angling and technique.” Thaxton and Perone both live in Point Loma and attend St. Augustine High School. Both converted to rowing from other sports – Thaxton swam competitively and Perone was a pitcher. “You’re always rowing and you can always learn new things,” Perone said. “It’s a lot more fun than most other sports.” For Thaxton, the sport is in his blood. He is one of a long line of rowers going back to his great grandfather Joe Jessop, a founder of the San Diego Crew Classic. “The Jessop family was part of the rowing club from the very beginning,” Sloate said. “There’s some genetics there.” Cathy Thaxton – Joe’s aunt – rowed for ZLAC, America’s oldest women’s rowing club, on Mission Bay, is a member of the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame and was a four-time Olympian beginning in 1976. And a number of his relatives have rowed at SDRC. Despite his family’s history of rowing, Thaxton said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure. “I use it as instigation for me,” Thaxton said. “If my aunt was an Olympic rower, I think I might have some potential to give it my all and make it as far as she did or better. It’s more like a stimulant to me.” Thaxton and Perone finished up their first junior rowing season at SDRC in June. During the season, junior rowers practice six days a week. Perone said the camp will help members of the rowing club next season. “It’s going to help us row a lot better because there are new coaches and we get more ideas and we can bring that here,” Perone said. SDRC has been in existence since 1888 and is currently located at El Carmel Pt. on Mission Bay. Sloate said the club’s junior program, with 100 13-18 year olds, is the biggest it has been in the history of the club – but that they are still looking for new talent. “We’re looking for athletes that are in the wrong sport. Maybe they’re playing volleyball or football or basketball, and they may have good size but they’re sitting on the bench and it’s really not their sport,” Sloate said. “What we’d like them to do is try something different, see if they like it.” Sloate said rowing is the ultimate team sport and requires teamwork and cohesion. “It’s definitely not a ‘me’ sport,” Sloate said. “We are raising the next generation of leaders. They understand putting personal ambitions aside for the greater good of the boat.” Thaxton and Perone understand that dynamic. Their grasp of the sport has allowed them to easily glide through the waters of Mission Bay and onto the national rowing scene.