Stonington High School Crew hosted a home regatta on the Mystic River on April 30th against East Lyme HS and Guildford HS. It was a picture perfect day for racing after a week of warm weather. Nearly 200 rowers and 22 boats competed in the regatta. It was the first time Stonington High School hosted a multi-school event of this size on the river. The race launched at the Mystic Seaport, and the boats rowed down river and race off of Mason’s Island. The racing was very competitive with several events being decided by less than 10 seconds over the 1250-meter course. At the end of the racing Stonington won five of the seven races, and East Lyme won two.
Stonington High School Crew got off to a chilly start on its twelfth season of rowing on the Mystic River. This year’s cold and windy spring kept the team off the water, and training on land. The team was started in the spring of 1998 by two former college rowers, Ken Godfrey and Mike Nowak, who were able to locate a few used rowing shells and a few curious students at Stonington High, and form what constituted a small club program. Since 1998, with strong support throughout the community, the team becamea full-fledged varsity sport attracting 50-70 athletes each year. With growth in numbers came success on the water, with Stonington placing in the top three in most races at the CT State Championships, and consistently qualifying for the New England Regional Championships held in Worcester, MA each spring. This year the crew team had a record turn out and for the fist time in its twelve-year history had try-outs to limit its size.
