The San Diego Rowing Club (SDRC) will be sending the men’s varsity quad to the USRowing Youth National Championships (YNC) from June 10-12 after its boat medaled at the Southwest Junior Regional Championships (SWJRC) in March in Sacramento. This is the second consecutive year SDRC will send the men’s varsity quad (a boat with four rowers using two oars each) to the national championship in Oak Ridge, Tenn. However, this is the first time rowers Steven Goicoechea (a junior), Tim Maytom (senior), Chris Vilanilam (senior) and Luke Dillard (senior) have ever rowed at SWJRC. The four rowers easily took first in the first heat, due largely to a powerful start that catapulted the boat into an early lead, finishing with a time of 7:14.85 and qualifying for the grand final. “After we won that first heat, it kind of dawned on me that we could medal in the event,” Goicoechea said. “And that was when we all started to get really excited.” By winning the first heat, the quad secured its first-place berth in the heat and earned the four rowers a spot in Lane 2, which was partially sheltered from the strong wind on Lake Natoma. Despite the advantage, boats from Long Beach Junior Crew and Stanford High School quickly pulled ahead, leaving SDRC and the Oakland Strokes (OS) to battle it out for third. SDRC held onto a slight lead until the 1,500-meter mark, when the Oakland Strokes began to close the small gap. According to Goicochea, the SDRC rowers found a second wind when the OS caught up to them and pulled away at the last second to win third place. With a time of 6:53.99, the quad was among the top three boats in the event, consequently qualifying for the YNC. “When we pulled through that finish line, I was like, ‘Finally, I’m going to nationals,’” Dillard said. The SDRC men’s novice coxed quad (a quad with a coxswain to steer the boat) won first place, but its season has ended because there are no novice events at YNC. Travis Webster (senior), James Lenert (senior), James Bernard (senior) and Ben Rhoda (freshman) easily pulled away from the second-place finisher and the rest of the crews with a time of 7:50.2. The women’s novice coxed quad also managed to place third, despite a technical problem in the middle of the race. About halfway through the race, Gwendolyn Willas’ (11) oar popped out of the oarlock, the apparatus that restricts the oar to a certain range of vertical motion. The bow pair was forced to drop out to allow Willas to put the oar back in the oarlock. The quad quickly fell from second place to fourth in the estimated ten seconds that it took Willas to fix the problem. But by the 1,600-meter mark, the quad had fought its way into third place, where it finished. “Most crews, especially novices, wouldn’t be able to recover from something like that,” said women’s novice coach Kate Hoft. “To me, what they did is so much more impressive than first place.” SDRC, which has only 84 junior rowers, medaled in those three events only. But the SDRC is already shifting its focus away from defeats and preparing for nationals and next year’s season, said Chris Callaghan, men’s varsity head coach and coaching coordinator. He said the men’s varsity quad will continue to experiment with different lineups to find the best possible rowers for YNC. For more race results and information, visit http://results.us rowing.org/RaceResults/2011-SWJRallresults.pdf.