December 30, 2011

Dear Member / Supporter,

We would first like to thank all of you for your support during 2011 and to wish you a Very Happy New Year and a successful rowing season.

As our Annual Awards Banquet has been postponed until Saturday June 2nd we thought you would be interested to know how the Rowing Center performed in what was a busy and exciting year.

US Rowing Training Center Partner: In February GMS became part of this program following the success of the GMS programs in 2010 & 2009 when 20 and 17 athletes qualified for their respective national teams.

Our High School programs all did well consistently medaling at regattas in all categories from Novice through to our Elite (Varsity) program. Six of our seniors left for College/ Gap Year (four with scholarships) leaving a hole in the squad but during the Fall it was pleasing to see the commitment and results achieved by the remaining and upcoming rowers and from the strong showing of our novice group.

The GMS High Performance Scullers (HPS) had a successful pre Olympic year with the Ltwt Men’s Double winning the US Trials and representing the US at the Munich World Cup and at the World Championships. Todd Mickelson won a seat in the Ltwt Men’s Quad representing the US at the World Championships finishing 5th, a great performance. Mike Sivigny just missed winning his 3rd consecutive Championship Singles at the HOCR with conditions favoring his nemesis Mahe Drysdale the reigning World Champion who he has previously beaten in this race.

The Masters Program although small collected a number of scalps at the major regattas including the National Masters in Oklahoma City. The hard core of members continued to train hard. Our sympathy and good wishes go to Karen Simmons who had the misfortune to fracture her leg in three places around the house – safer to be training!

Camps: The March/April Spring Preparation Camps at Aiken, SC for HPS, Masters and Juniors were well attended. The palatial residence in Aiken and the laned course at Langley Pond make a great combination at a reasonable cost. The sessions are not for the faint hearted providing a smooth transition from winter training to getting back on the water in preparation for the sprint season.

GMS hosted and managed the US Rowing Selection camps for the Junior Men’s and Women’s Quad and ran an Under 23 camp. The WLtwt 4x won the US Trials and represented the US at the U23 Worlds at Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Fund Raiser: We would like to thank all Juniors, Parents and Masters who generously supported this year’s pie sale fund raiser which has enabled us to expand our fleet of boats.


2011 Results Summary

• Northeast Regionals: Five boats, eight athletes qualified for the Youth National Championships. The athletes were: JW4x - Lizzie Youngling (Westport), Caroline Habjan (New Milford), Erin Reelick (Brookfield) and Maria Mayden (Newtown); JMLtwt 2x – Blaze Kelly (New Milford)and Nick Dickinson (Newtown); JM2x – Greg Burke (Redding) and Sam Rouse (New Milford).
• Youth National Championships: 1st Place, JM2x - Greg Burke and Sam Rouse; 2nd Place, JMLtwt2x Blaze Kelly and Nick Dickinson (both in their junior year).
• Royal Canadian Henley: Blaze Kelly took 3rd place in MLtwt (145lbs) 1x (a notable performance), Jess Lajoie, Catherine Lott, Mike Senf and Tiffany Macon all achieved personal bests in this premier regatta. Given they were in their junior and sophomore years this bodes well for the 2012.
• Other outstanding performances were Caroline Habjan who attended the Junior National Team Selection Camp and narrowly missed a seat in the JW4x at Jr Worlds.
• Junior Worlds: Three of our rowers (Maria Mayden, Ridgefield; Erin Reelick, Brookfield and Lizzie Youngling, Westport) represented the US at Junior World Rowing Championships held at Eton, England coming 4th by a bow ball. This was the best performance of any Junior Womens Quad from the USA in the history of the Junior World Championships.
• Head Races: This was a difficult season with a number of regattas including our own having to be cancelled due to Tropical Storm Irene and other major storms. The Head of the Fish, Riverfront and Schuylerskiff provided some good races in challenging conditions. Those who medaled were, Jess Lajoie, Blaze Kelly, Catherine Lott, Nick Dickinson, Jake Synder, Mike Senf, Ian Robinson Kyle Onorato and Dan Arrato.
• Our Novice Rowers did particularly well given their brief time on the water and special congratulations go to: Brian Olszewski, Emily Gribble, Jim Hackett and Annie Robbins.

• HPS rowers competed in the various NSR (National Selection Races) and Trials with Brian Deregt and Jon Winter winning Trials in the Mens Ltwt 2x and competing in Europe at the Munich World Cup and the World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. They didn’t make the cut to qualify the boat for the London Olympics, so all rests on their performances in 2012.
• Todd Michelson won a seat in the Mens Llwt 4x which finished 5th - a great row and place for the US boat.
• At the Head of the Charles Jon Winter came 1st in the Ltwt Singles Men and Mike Sivigny came 2nd in the Championship Singles Men.
• Fall National Team Speed Order: Mike Sivigny came in 1st with Seth Weil coming 3rd which was a tremendous result given this is Seth’s first year sculling.
• Special mention must be given to Meghan O’Leary who only took up sculling in 2010 and has subsequently been invited to join the US Sculling National squad.

• GMS Master rowers competed throughout the season at many of the major sprint and head races medaling along the way. Regular competitors included: Meredith Collins, Laurie Davitt, Beth Picard, Anne Davies, Tim Davies, Paula Meyer, Mike O’Leary, Scot Killen and Mike Verlin
• At Masters Nationals they collected a haul of medals rowing for GMS as well as other clubs. Those attending were Pam Besteman, Tim Davies, Paula Meyer, and Mike O’Leary.
• At the Head of the Charles GMS Masters rowing for GMS and other clubs put in some credible performances recording fast times. Rowers competing were: Al Flanders, Antje Flanders, Meredith Collins, Tim Davies, Laurie Davitt, Scot Killen, Paula Meyer, Meghan O’Leary, Beth Picard, and Mike Verlin.
• The HPS squad won the Mens 4x Directors’ Challenge.

• The good turnout for Winter Training bodes well for the Spring season with Regional and National Youth Championships. All those in the Winter Training program will compete at the Northeast Regional Championships.
• Connecticut Indoor Championships - Sunday February 4th.
• Spring Program starts on Monday, March 12th.
• March Camp Aiken – March 16th – March 25th.
• Summer Camps for beginner and novice rowers in July and early August.

• National Team Speed Orders in March and April will determine who will be representing the US in the boats that still need to qualify for the London Olympics. These include the Mens 2x, Womens 1x and 2x, and Mens Ltwt 2x. All crews competing for seats in these boats include members of the GMS HPS program. We wish them every success.

• Spring Camp will be held in Aiken between March 24th and 31st . The camp is earlier this year due to the pre-Olympic Speed Orders on the West Coast.

• GMS Awards Banquet: June 2nd.
• US Rowing Junior Mens and Womens Quad Selection Camp.
• US Rowing Junior Women Sculling Development Camp.
• GMS Regatta – Sunday, Sept 16th.