Santa Barbara Community Rowing got the spring racing season off to a strong start at the President’s Day Invitational Regatta in Long Beach on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Dunn School’s Diego Stephenson led the way and brought home the gold medal in the Youth Men’s Single
“[Stephenson] has picked up a lot of speed this year,” SBCR coach Gracie Barbara said. “The youth category is tough and Diego has been putting in extra work outside of our scheduled practice, and it’s great to see it showing in his results.
“We’re all really happy for him and excited to see what he can do the rest of the season.”
Santa Ynez High’s Jacie Dingman also earned a gold in the U17 Women’s Single, and paired up with doubles partner Elsa Loya to place first in the Youth Women’s Double.
The President’s Day Invitational Regatta also featured the debut of five novice rowers for SBCR, who placed second in the Men’s U15 Quad.
The new team members included William Allen, Campbell Allen, John Asher, Finn McCauley and Aidan Chase.
“Their success is noteworthy because this is the first time these kids have raced together in this lineup and it can be intimidating especially when their average age is two years younger than their competitors,” Barbara said.
“These are 12 and 13 year olds going up against some 13 and 14 year olds, which is tough. But they worked together and came away with a terrific result, and I hope it inspires other kids to join their ranks.”
Santa Barbara Community Rowing is still in search of rowers interested in competing around the nation.
“We are still a small team and we are always looking for more middle and high schoolers,” Barbara said. “Rowing is still relatively unknown in Santa Barbara County, but it’s a great community; we row on a beautiful lake; and our kids are fast. What more do you need? And a lot of these kids will go on to row in college, so it’ll be fun to see what the future holds for them.
“There’s a lot of potential here to build a bigger, top-tier junior team, and I’d love to see our program grow to 20 or 30 kids out on the water all together.”
Santa Barbara Community Rowing is one of the only rowing organizations in Santa Barbara County, based at Cachuma Lake.
If you are interested in donating to the club or learning more about rowing, SBCR offers summer camps for youth ages 11+ and Learn to Row programs throughout the year for adults and kids. For more information visit: https://www.rowsbc.org/