A young area rowing program has taken over the national spotlight.  The Upper Natoma Rowing Club is currently in its second year – races and regattas running throughout. While other area programs have hundreds of rowers and decades of history, this club has achieved much in a short time.  About 60 athletes comprise teams of fours and eights in boats purchased with personal financing by the coaching staff. That same passion for rowing exemplified by its coaches has translated into successful scholarship signings by its athletes. 

Five club student-athletes committed to Division I NCAA schools this year. Clara Nowinski (St. Francis) committed to Cal, Paige Watson (Rio Americano) to Stanford, Missy Riehl (St. Francis) to University of Pennsylvania, Savannah Eldridge (Vista del Lago) also to Cal, and Erin Allen (Folsom) to University of Tennessee. A few more athletes will sign to universities at the end of March, while four athletes signed scholarships last year.  The club has garnered national recognition despite having to rig and de-rig its boats every day, due to not having a boathouse. The lack of a boathouse, however, hasn’t made a difference.

Allen, a former gymnast, was told by a doctor at a young age she would never run or play most sports. A birth defect in her foot and subsequent surgery weren’t enough to keep the coxswain away from Lake Natoma.  “I was very lost and upset, because I had to stop dancing,” Allen said. “In the summer of 2008 I saw rowing for the first time at the Olympics in Beijing. I instantly liked it and wanted to learn more. I learned about rowing and the incredible water on Lake Natoma. Upper Natoma is a very close-knit and determined group of athletes.”  With Allen’s skill at the coxswain position, the club’s varsity eights boat took ninth at Nationals in Tennessee. The club also qualified three other boats.

Eldridge was part of a varsity four team which advanced to nationals. In the qualifying race, her boat took on 40 pounds of water. The 6-foot former basketball player jumped ship as a sophomore and hasn’t hit the hardwood since.  “I immediately loved it, not only the rowing, but the land work as well. I just loved the feeling of pushing yourself to your limits every day. That’s pretty much what has carried me to where I am now, hard work,” Eldridge said.

Hard work and adversity seem to be themes for the club. Coaches volunteer their time – unpaid – trailer in boats every day, and convinced athletes to join a club based solely on reputation to that point. Coach Dave Hayashi, with 20 years of coaching experience in Sacramento, put up his own money for the club’s three “fours” boats.  For Hayashi, credit is to be spread around.  “We have some very good parents who are willing to help us out. We try to teach kids life skills such as teamwork, sportsmanship, working hard to achieve goals, self-esteem and self worth,” Hayashi said. “In this sport we have to work together to be successful. If one person does not work hard then it can ruin the success for the boat.”  Four coaches with nearly 50 years of combined rowing experience have engrained the club’s philosophies in its athletes.  On the precipice of joining the nation’s college elite, the sophomore class of the club’s rowers takes their humble beginnings into the fray with them.

“As a first-year program people often look at the success of the club with shock and admiration, but I personally don’t think being a new program held us back at all,” Eldridge said. “If anything it pushed us to work harder. To prove to not only ourselves, but the other teams that we are fast, and that you don’t need a fancy boathouse or nice equipment to win races. You simply need to work harder than the other crews you’re up against. I firmly believe that this is the attitude all of our athletes hold, and I think that’s the attitude that has contributed to all of our success.”

UNRC Varsity Womens 8 finished 9th at Nationals

The Varsity women of Upper Natoma Rowing Club made a tremendous showing at the Youth National Championships held in June in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  Led by two seasoned varsity athletes, Senior Coxswain Lindsay Meltz and Junior Stroke seat, Clara Nowinski, the squad also consisted of first year varsity rowers: 7 seat Savannah Eldridge, 6 seat Alison Doran, 5 seat Katerina Gregoriou, 4 seat Haley York, 3 seat Megan Musilli, 2 seat Paige Watson, and Bow seat Ali Vogelsang. 

On the first day of racing, the Varsity Eight finished third behind Saratoga and New Trier.  In the repechage (a second chance) on day two, the Varsity Eight cruised to a victory. Later that day, they raced in the semi-final where they faced Connecticut (last year’s national champions) and Marin (Southwest champions and soon to be 2011 National Champs).  Racing in a very tough semi-final, the Varsity Eight raced hard against some of the fastest crews in the nation (Connecticut Boat Club, Marin, Mount St. Joes, New Trier, Saratoga). They finished sixth  in the semi-final, qualifying to race in the “B” final, which would determine places 7-12.  UNRC’s Varsity Eight raced against Cincinnati, New Trier, Saratoga, Sammamish, and Mercer.  Although the Varsity Eight got off to a slow start, they never gave up and made up ground on the other crews.  As they came into the sprint, our Varsity Eight walked up on Saratoga, passing them in the last 100 meters.  Coming on strong, UNRC’s Varsity Eight finished third, behind Cincinnati and New Trier.

For a first year rowing club, UNRC made an exceptionally strong showing at the Youth National Championships.  In the sport’s most prestigious event, UNRC’s Varsity Women’s Eight placed ninth in the nation!  We’re all proud of UNRC and the athletes who represented our Club in the Varsity Eight.  The women were happy about their success and they look to building on their experience as they enter the 2011-2012 rowing season.

About Us

Upper Natoma Rowing Club (UNRC) was established to meet the need for a highly competitive rowing program in the Folsom, Sacramento and surrounding areas.

UNRC competes in the Southwestern Conference. Our coaching staff has established UNRC as a Southwestern powerhouse.  In its first season, UNRC qualified and medaled 4 boats at the Southwest Junior Regional Championships. We were the first Sacramento-based rowing club to qualify and send a women's varsity 8+ to the National Championships 
 
Our coaches and staff provide a positive rowing experience for our athletes and teach useful life lessons including hard work, dedication, sacrifice, teamwork, time management and excellence.

TRUST

by Chris Manibusan

Rowing is a sport of trust. Trust in the training, trust in your teammates, trust in your coaches.

Any doubts, hesitation, or limitations can fracture that trust, and any thoughts of victory will slip away. When the pain sets in, and it will, trust that you have been properly prepared for what you, and your team want to achieve. Trust that the person in front of you and the person behind you are giving it their all.

Know that victories aren't given, and there is no "luck" involved in winning. Victories are earned; earned with every ounce of sweat, drop of blood, lunge, hill, erg, mile, day, hour, minute, and second that you have worked.

This is what we do. It is THIS work that separates victory and defeat; it is what separates us from them; it is the difference of being ahead or behind as the flag drops. The question is where do you want to be?