GDRA added two team boats to our racing fleet this summer—a new 2023 Fluidesign lightweight quad and a 2022 Hudson lightweight double. Just in time for the head race season, and much welcomed by the lighter rowers on our competitive team!

The boats were put to good use when GDRA traveled to the Secret City Head Race in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on October 14 and 15, 2023. This regatta has a downstream course on Saturday and an upstream course on Sunday. In the new quad’s maiden voyage, Paula Sideras, Michael McCarty, Denise Heuser, and Ed Walz won the bronze medal in Saturday’s Mixed Masters 4x. The quad had another successful outing when Meg Evans, Deb Taylor, Brian Elwell, and Brian White took silver in Sunday’s Mixed Masters 4x. Ben Boehm won silver in the Men’s Masters 1x on Sunday. We had four crews in the mixed double race on Saturday, two crews in the men’s double on Saturday, one crew in the women’s double on Sunday, one crew in the men’s double on Sunday, and two competitors in the Saturday men’s single. A composite women’s crew also raced the quad on Saturday. A good time was had by all!

The following week, a small contingent from GDRA traveled to Boston to row in the legendary Head of the Charles regatta. Brian White rowed his single on Friday, October 20. Then, racing the new quad on Sunday, October 22, were Meg Evans, Deb Taylor, Brian Elwell, and Brian White. Rowing under the narrow bridges of the Charles River makes it a challenging course; it was also great fun, with crowds cheering from the bridges and making noise with cowbells and kazoos.

GDRA’s next trip was closer to home, with rowers competing in the Speakmon Memorial Regatta in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, October 29. Richard Pierce took first place in the Men’s Masters 1x. Two of our crews placed in the Mixed Masters 4x; Ed Walz, Denise Heuser, Paula Sideras, and Michael McCarty took the silver medal, and Eric Lathrop, Connie Howe, Deb Taylor, and William Turner got bronze. Ed Walz and Denise Heuser were first in the Mixed Masters 2x, in which two other GDRA crews—Deb Taylor and William Turner, and Paula Sideras and Michael McCarty—also competed.

We traveled to the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on November 4 and 5, 2023. This regatta always has been a club favorite. The Hooch is one of the larger regattas, so medals are hard to win, but we always enjoy the competition anyway. The Mixed Masters 2x is usually the most popular with our club, and that was true this year—we had four crews racing in this event. GDRA rowers also competed in the Mixed Masters 4x, the Men’s Masters 2x, the Women’s Masters 2x, the Women’s Masters Lightweight 1x, the Men’s Masters Lightweight 1x, and the Mixed Open 2x.

GDRA was represented in several other races this season:
– the Chicago River Half-Marathon;
– the Head of the Ohio, in Pittsburgh;
– the Hoover Fall Classic, in Columbus, in which Richard Pierce won the gold medal in his single;
– and the Head of the South, in Augusta, Georgia, where bronze medals went to Brian White and Meg Evans in the mixed double and Meg Evans in the single.

Our season ended with the annual Jingle Bell Row, in which eight reindeer-costumed sweep rowers bring joy to all the good people along the Great Miami River, with Santa Claus as coxswain.

Wishing a happy holiday season to all!

The Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark will be held this weekend, October 7-8. As always, our volunteers will set up a tent and show the community what we love about rowing! GDRA will have a rowing machine challenge in which we invite people to see how fast they can row for 500 meters. This fun competition was popular at last year’s event. We expect visitors will enjoy it this weekend too.

GDRA will set up a boat display and give visitors information about our Learn-to-Row classes. If you are curious about the sport of rowing but have not tried it, the Outdoor Experience would be a great place to learn more. We’d love to see you there!

Our team didn’t have to travel far to Masters Nationals this year because its location at Eagle Creek in Indianapolis was so near. The regatta had a good turnout and plenty of tough competition. Ben Boehm was our superstar, racing with both GDRA and composite crews and winning gold in the Men’s Lightweight B 2x, the Men’s Lightweight C 2x, the Men’s Lightweight C 4x, the Men’s Lightweight B 1x, the Mixed B 8+, and the Men’s Lightweight A-AA 2x, and silver in the Men’s Lightweight A-AA 1x, the Men’s Lightweight C 1x, the Men’s Open D 4x, and the Men’s Open C 4x. Paula Sideras and Denise Heuser won the silver medal in a very close race in the Women’s Lightweight G 2x. Luiz Franca won silver in the Men’s Open I 1x. Michael McCarty, Richard Pierce, Ed Walz, Brian White, Meg Evans, Deborah Taylor, and Brian Elwell also competed.

Some of us raced in the Chicago Sprints at Lincoln Park Lagoon on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9. It is a narrow course with only two lanes, where the top finishers in the heats advance to the finals. Ben Boehm won gold in the Men’s Lightweight 1x, gold in the Men’s Lightweight 2x, and silver in the Men’s Masters Lightweight 1x. Meg Evans and Deborah Taylor took gold in the Women’s Lightweight 2x and the Women’s Masters 2x. Meg Evans and Brian White finished second in the Mixed Masters 2x.

The Indy Summer Sprints took place on June 17, also at Eagle Creek. Competitors from GDRA were Ben Boehm, Brian White, Brian Elwell, Deborah Taylor, Meg Evans, Denise Heuser, Ed Walz, and Richard Pierce. Racing with composite crems, Ben Boehm won the gold medal in the Men’s Masters 4x and the bronze in the Men’s Masters 2x. Meg Evans, Brian White, Brian Elwell, and Deborah Taylor won the bronze medal in the Mixed Masters 4x.

Our Discover Rowing event on June 10 was well attended, and our Learn-to-Row classes have been going well. This has been a sizzling summer! The sprint season for GDRA will end this Saturday, July 29, with some of us traveling to the Midwest Summer Sprints at Dillon Lake in Nashport, Ohio.

GDRA had a large group competing at the Dogwood Masters Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday, June 3rd. We brought so many boats that the trailer was almost full. Most of us arrived at noon on the practice day, Friday, and we got the boats rigged quickly with so many people helping. Then, after some practice in the buoyed sprint lanes, we enjoyed a pre-race dinner at Calhoun’s restaurant, which has a gorgeous view of the course on Melton Lake.

The organizers put together a good schedule that allowed for participation in multiple races with enough time in between. The races were competitive and fun. Our team did well. Kudos to Wendy Lathrop and Connie Howe, who learned to row with us in 2022 and took the bronze medal in their first stake boat sprint regatta!

Here is the full list of medal winners (thanks to Brian White for putting it together):

Ed Walz – Bronze – Mens Masters 1x
Deborah Taylor – Silver – Womens Masters 1x
Eric & Wendy Lathrop – Silver – Mixed Masters 2x, 43 -54
Meg Evans & Brian White – Gold – Mixed Masters 2x, 55 – 59
Brian Elwell & Deborah Taylor – Silver – Mixed Masters 2x, 55 – 59
Ed Walz & Denise Heuser– Silver – Mixed Masters 2x, 60+
Michael McCarty & Ed Walz – Silver – Mens Masters 2x
Meg Evans & Deborah Taylor – Gold – Womens Masters 2x, 50 – 59
Connie Howe & Wendy Lathrop – Bronze – Womens Masters 2x, 50 – 59
Paula Sideras & Denise Heuser– Silver – Womens Masters 2x, 60+
Meg Evans, Brian White, Brian Elwell & Deborah Taylor – Silver – Mixed Masters 4x, 50 – 59
Michael McCarty, Paula Sideras, Denise Heuser & Ed Walz – Silver – Mixed Masters 4x, 60+

Congratulations to all who participated!

Greater Dayton Rowing Association invites you to take part in our annual Discover Rowing event on Saturday, June 10, 2023, from 10 AM to 1 PM. This is a FREE opportunity to enjoy the adventure of rowing in a team boat on the Great Miami River. Our volunteers will teach you about boats, oars, and how to get in a boat safely. Then we get on the water and row!

Discover Rowing will be held at the GDRA Boathouse, located just north of downtown Dayton at 102 East Helena Street, Dayton, Ohio 45404. Ages 18 and up. Pre-registration is required.

Sign up for Discover Rowing here!

Questions? Contact discover@daytonrowing.org

Several rowers from GDRA traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to compete in the Percy Priest Sprints regatta on Saturday, April 1. Although we couldn’t race some of our small boats because of high winds, we all had multiple races even with the compressed schedule. The organizers were very helpful and flexible, adding mixed double and mixed quad events at our request, which ended up being fully subscribed and gave us some good competition.

Two GDRA boats placed in the Mixed Masters 2x race, with Deborah Taylor and Brian Elwell winning the silver medal, and Meg Evans and Brian White taking bronze. Taking the silver medal in the Women’s Masters 4x were Deborah Taylor, Meg Evans, Connie Howe, and Kathy Kremer (from Great Miami Rowing Center). This was Connie Howe’s first sprint race in very challenging conditions; bravely done!

Some of us also participated in the Sarasota Invitational at Nathan Benderson Park in Florida on February 26. This regatta is particularly fun for lightweight rowers because it features a Mixed Masters Lightweight 2x event, which most regattas do not have. Meg Evans and Brian White won gold in that event. Brian White took bronze in the Men’s Lightweight 1x, and a mixed quad made up of Meg Evans, Brian White, Kathy Kremer, and Brian Elwell also had a third-place finish.

Greater Dayton Rowing Association is now accepting applications for our Spring 2023 Youth Racing Camp for 7th and 8th graders. We aim to introduce young people to competitive rowing in a safe, fun, and welcoming environment. The camp will run from April 10th to May 21st and will prepare rowers to compete in the Midwest Junior Rowing Championships on May 20th and 21st at Lake Harsha in Bethel, Ohio. There will be a scrimmage against Great Miami Rowing Center on May 6th in Hamilton, Ohio.

Applications are due by March 26th. Submit the online form today!

This camp is limited to 12 athletes, so don’t delay in applying! The cost is $225 for the season, which includes all coaching, equipment, entry fees, and a camp t-shirt.  Athletes will also need a basic membership to USRowing ($25). Financial aid is available. Parents are welcome to observe practices and, if interested, may join the club and learn to row.

Rowers will practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4:30pm to 6:30pm at the GDRA Boathouse at 102 East Helena Street, Dayton, OH 45404. Our program focuses on sculling, in which each rower uses 2 oars. We will row and race in boats with 2 rowers (doubles) and boats with 4 rowers and a coxswain (coxed quads). The coxswain is responsible for steering the boat and giving directions to the rowers.

Head coach Ben Boehm has 27 years of competitive rowing experience and 8 years of competitive coaching experience. Ben is a USRowing trained coach who rowed in college, retired from the Air Force as a Colonel, and is a certified EMT. All of our coaches have completed NCSI background checks and SafeSport training. Find out about all our coaches.

Last week’s pleasantly warm temperatures and calm water, which brought many rowers out to enjoy the near-perfect conditions on our river, gave way to chilly temperatures and snow on Saturday morning. Our fall racing season had ended the previous weekend, November 6th and 7th, with a trip to the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga. Ben Boehm won a gold medal (Men’s Masters 2x under age 50) and two silver (Men’s Masters 4x under age 50 and Men’s Open 4x) while racing with composite teams.

Rough water on Saturday caused the Mixed Masters doubles to be rescheduled to the end of the day for safety reasons. Because the new schedule caused this event to conflict with single-sex doubles, some of us didn’t get as many races as we had planned. Our mixed double over-50 crews did well, though, and were pleased with the results. Deb Taylor took silver, rowing in a composite boat with Don Bush from Great Miami. Brian White and Meg Evans, shown in the photo below, won bronze at the Hooch.

We also had several people traveling to the Speakmon Memorial Regatta in Columbus on Sunday, October 30th. Among our GDRA rowers were two recent Learn-to-Row graduates, Bethany Banakos and Laura Swope, who competed in the Women’s Masters 2x and had a great time! Two of our crews medaled in the Mixed Masters 2x; they were Mike McCarty and Paula Sideras, who won first place, followed by Deb Taylor taking silver in a composite boat with Brian Elwell from Great Miami. Richard Pierce won silver in the Men’s Masters 1x. Other GDRA competitors were Ryan Repasy, Brian White, and Meg Evans.

Today, with the 2022 season ending, a group of volunteers organized by our Boathouse Manager, Wilfred van Breukelen, tidied up the boathouse and got everything ready for winter. Thanks Wilfred! Our annual Jingle Bell Row, in which Santa coxes the trusty reindeer in a sweep boat, will be held this coming Saturday, November 19th, at 9:30 AM. Ho ho ho!

GDRA was well represented at the 2022 Secret City Head Race in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on the weekend of October 8 and 9. Saturday’s races were downstream, while the Sunday races were upstream, allowing participants to see more of the regatta’s beautiful autumn scenery.

Our contingent had three recent Learn-to-Row graduates: Eric Lathrop, Wendy Lathrop, and Connie Howe. We’re all very glad to welcome them to our racing team! Eric won bronze in a composite Men’s Masters 4x on Sunday, Eric and Wendy rowed in the Mixed Masters 2x on Saturday, and Connie and Wendy competed in the Women’s 2x on Sunday. Eric also rowed a Men’s Masters 2x with Ed Walz. An impressive outing for our newest members!

Ed Walz and Denise Hauser took advantage of the opportunity to race the Mixed Masters 2x on both days, taking the gold medal in the Sunday race. Meg Evans and Brian White also competed in the Mixed Masters 2x on Saturday. Deb Taylor and Meg Evans took second place in the Women’s Masters 2x on Sunday.

Racing the singles on Saturday was challenging because the wind was higher than predicted, making the course choppy. Brian White rowed a single in the morning Men’s Masters race. The wind was stronger by the midafternoon Women’s Masters single race, and Deb Taylor persevered to win the bronze medal. Meg Evans also rowed a single.

Other regattas where GDRA members have rowed this fall season are the Chicago River Half Marathon, the Head of the Ohio, and the Hoover Fall Classic.

GDRA volunteers set up a tent and greeted many curious visitors at the Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience over the weekend of October 1 & 2, introducing people to the sport of rowing. Our Recruitment Director, Linda Clemens, did a great job of getting everything organized!

Linda reports that 438 people hopped on ergs for our weekend-long competition. We also had a boat display to promote our Learn-to-Row classes and give people an idea of what it’s like to row on the river.

Everyone had great fun, and our volunteers were glad to have the opportunity to be part of this popular community event. Many thanks to everyone who participated!