By Dave DeVito
Each year when the calendar is about to turn to June, athletes, coaches, and families at Maritime Rowing – home of New Canaan Crew – are busy making mass travel plans for Sarasota, FL.
That’s because Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park is where the USRowing Youth National Championships takes place.
And historically, MRC is among the top clubs in the entire country for the number of boats it sends to Youth Nationals. Last year MRC qualified 15 boats and in 2022 it sent 19, which was the most among any club in the country.
This year is no different, as Maritime recently had another stellar weekend at the Northeast Regionals, which took place May 18-19 in Lowell, MA.
Fifteen boats from MRC qualified for Youth Nationals, which will take place June 6-9 at Nathan Benderson Park. That includes 64 total athletes – 18 of whom are from New Canaan.
Boats must finish among the top four in their regional races to qualify for Youth Nationals. Maritime crowned 5 regional-champion gold medalists and added 3 silvers as well as 6 bronzes.
“This is a win for the whole club. Every athlete and every coach plays a part in helping get to a National Championship,” said Yan Vengerovskiy, Co-Founder of MRC and Head Boys Coach.
Youth Nationals is a true culmination of an entire year’s work. MRC’s program is virtually year-round, with a majority of its athletes attending practices 6 days a week, 3+ hours a day for 11 months out of the year with a brief break in August.
Last year’s USRowing Youth National Championships was the largest ever with 835 entries from 225 clubs across the country bringing in just over 4,000 athletes.
“There’s a lot of pressure on these athletes between school, practice, and expectations. We’re really proud of how well they all handle themselves. Winning isn’t the goal but rather the result of doing all the little things well.” said Sharon Kriz, Director of Rowing Programs and Co-Head Boys Coach.
“The team is always striving for excellence – on and off the water,” added Yulia Chagina, Girls High Performance Coach. “All for one and one for all!”
Here is a complete list of the MRC boats that recently qualified for Youth Nationals as well as their place at the recent Northeast Regionals:
MRC Girls Team:
Women’s Youth U17 Quad – 2nd Place – Sumner Bowers (Darien), Isabella DeVito (New Canaan), Hayden Smith (New Canaan), Lucie Smith (Darien)
Women’s Youth U15 Coxed Quad – 2nd Place – Sophia Voyko (Norwalk), Kalina Dimitrova (Norwalk), Emma Sillo (New Canaan), Maebh Cotter (Westport), Anna Kostrzewski (Norwalk)
Women’s Youth Second Quad – 3rd Place – Jacqueline Mulle (New Canaan), Caitlin Davidson (Darien), Isabella Taranto (Darien), Sophia Dranchack (Fairfield)
Women’s Youth U16 Coxed Quad – 3rd Place – Brooke LeBaron (New Canaan), Juliette Martinez (New Canaan), Skye Coats (Westport), Lila Hidalgo (Wilton), Giovanni Cagninelli (Darien)
Women’s Youth Quad – 4th Place – Alice Gallo (Ridgefield), Paulina Almy (Darien), Mina Leon (Westport), Maddy Cummings (Westport)
MRC Boys Team:
Men’s Youth Second Quad – 1ST Place – Logan Hickey (New Canaan), Logan Thom (New Canaan), Matthew Greco (Norwalk), Luke Rucolas (Ridgefield)
Men’s Youth U17 Quad – 1ST Place – Matthew Lupinacci (Westport), Cameron Moorey (Darien), Henry Brauweiler (New Canaan), Quinn Whitman (New Canaan)
Men’s Youth U15 Coxed Quad- 1ST Place – Antonie Engel (Fairfield), Benson Snider (Stamford), Thomas Whipple (Darien), Alexander Shurba (Westport), Brendan Dolan (New Canaan)
Men’s Youth Quad – 1ST Place – Dan Ronen (Easton), Leyton Tucci (Darien), Brian Karle (Ridgefield), Rex Kelley (Darien)
Men’s Youth U16 Coxed Quad – 1ST Place – Declan Crotty (Fairfield), Charles McGillion-Moore (Westport), Andrew Quaglino (Stamford), Declan McClure (Fairfield), Elizabeth Zyarska (Fairfield)
Men’s Youth U15 Coxed Quad – 2nd Place- Henry French (Westport), Samuel Hering (New Canaan), Mark Bogatyrenko (Darien), Alexander Marks (New Canaan), Hunter Trichilo (Wilton)
Men’s Youth Second Quad – 3rd Place – Robert Vine (Greenwich), Jack Cushman (Westport), Charles Dathan (New Canaan), Zachary Santiago (New Canaan)
Men’s Youth U17 Quad – 3rd Place – Andrew Cordella (Darien), John Squitieri (Wilton), Matthew Peloso (New Canaan), Theo Kambas (Fairfield)
Men’s Youth U17 Double- 3rd Place – Adam Turner (Westport), Maksim Kolarich (Fairfield)
Men’s Youth U16 Coxed Quad- 3rd Place- Alex Yang (Trumbull), Theodore Tonkovich (New Canaan), Mark Feygin (Westport), Noah Peterkin (Wilton), Luke Dart-Miller (New Canaan)
