Linyang Lee

The Lions recently sent eight rowers to San Diego for the first time to compete in the San Diego Crew Classic, hosted from March 28-30. The regatta, which hosts competitions for hundreds of high school, college, and adult teams, includes some of the best teams in the nation, giving the crew program a chance to prove itself before regional and national championships.
“It’s a regatta where a lot of the top national teams in America will come together and it gives us a good representation of where we stack up,” junior Ian McGowan said. “It was really fun getting to compete against some really competitive teams in San Diego.”
As a newcomer to the regatta, the two four-man boats were placed in lanes that were more susceptible to the wind and other elements, which can slow the teams down.
“Lane placement is really important on that course. The higher ranked lanes have more protection for the wind, so you have the potential to row faster and it gives you a little advantage,” McGowan said. “Since it was our first year there, we kind of got thrown in a worse lane.”
Despite their minor disadvantages and unfamiliarity with the course, the two boats still placed well as they rowed in salt water for the first time.
“We had decent races, but nothing out of the ordinary, and we ended up barely missing the finals because we were in a really fast heat,” McGowan said. “And since the regatta is in salt water, your boat will ride a little higher in the water, so that changes how things feel.”
Besides their own races, the crew team enjoyed the beach and watching some of the top college crew teams compete.
“After our heat on Saturday, we went to the beach to hang out and have fun,” McGowan said. “Then the event also had collegiate races, and there were some very good men’s rowing teams there… It was fun to see all the good racing happening.”
Out of the hundreds of teams competing, most were from the West Coast, as St. Mark’s represented the only Texas highschool team in San Diego, although a handful of other school-based rowing clubs also participated. Several Texas teams sent their boats together in order to minimize the costs of shipping the boats to San Diego.
“All the Texas teams sent all of our boats in one trailer,” McGowan said. “We brought our boats down to Austin and the Texas Rowing Club was kind enough to drive our boats to San Diego.”
Crew now looks forward to the US Rowing Central Youth Championships, which will be hosted in Oklahoma City in early May. The top three boats in each event will then qualify for the national championship event held in Florida.
“I’ve never been on a team where we didn’t qualify for nationals,” McGowan said. “Nationals is the ultimate goal, that’s what we all have our eyes set on.”