Maine Youth Rowing
The playing fields at Waynflete School were filled with long-skinny rowing shells May 24 as 150 high school rowers from around the state converged on the site next to the Fore River in Portland for the third annual Maine Youth Rowing Championships, hosted by Waynflete.
Especially wonderful was seeing all the teenagers milling around their boats before and after the races, with nary a cell phone in sight. Competing in fours and eights, the teams battled a sometimes howling headwind up the 1,500 meter course on the Fore River. Spectators lined the shore screaming encouragement into the wind.
Four clubs sent boats to the day-long event: Berwick Academy, Megunticook Rowing, Waynflete and Yarmouth Rowing.
The sport has been growing more popular in recent years. Megunticook started just six years ago on Megunticook Lake in Camden and this was the team’s first time at this event. The club’s five midcoast rowers competed twice, winning both the B1 and B2 fours races. Berwick, which started its rowing program just three years ago, has seen its number of participants triple to as many as 60 youngsters this year. Beriwck girls won the G2, G3 and G4 fours races. Yarmouth, a club like Meguntucook that draws rowers from several different schools, has been around for about a decade. The club posted a win Sunday in the girls G1 (first boat) four. Waynflete’s program has been around about the same amount of time.
Below are the complete results:
Maine Youth Rowing Championships May 24, 2015
Girls 1st 4+
1. Yarmouth 6:32.14
2. Waynflete 6:55.61
3. Berwick Academy 7:05.32
Girls 2nd 4+
1. Berwick Academy A 6:44.74
2. Waynflete 6:52.83
3. Yarmouth 6:56.03 *
4. Berwick Academy B 7:15.18
Girls 3rd 4+
1. Berwick Academy 6:51.85
2. Yarmouth 7:08.87
3. Waynflete 7:25.6
Girls 4th 4+
1. Berwick Academy 7:37.76
2. Yarmouth 8:36.29
Girls 8+
1. Berwick/Yarmouth/Waynflete 7:20.10
2. Yarmouth 7:51.03
3. Waynflete 7:51.45
Boys 1st 4+
1. Megunticook 5:30.32
2. Yarmouth 5:37.13
3. Waynflete 5:41.64
4. Berwick 6:01.18
Boys 2nd 4+
1. Megunticook 7:15.31
2. Waynflete 7:27.14
3. Yarmouth 7:34.74
4. Berwick Academy 7:40.14
Boys 3rd 4+
1. Yarmouth/Waynflete Composite 7:20.24
2. Berwick Academy A 8:07.52
3. Yarmouth 8:09.3
4. Berwick Academy B 8:55.89
* After missing their start, the Yarmouth G2 boat raced with the G3 race.