Crew teams clean up at American Lake regatta

The Vashon Island Rowing Club made a statement of sorts on Sunday at the Commencement Bay Rowing Club’s annual American Lake regatta, bringing home 19 medals from 23 events. With 13 gold — including one from every novice event — two silver and four bronze, the 36 juniors and nine masters solidified the club’s status in the top tier of Northwest rowing.

Coach Richard Parr said that every rower came home with a medal.

The masters were represented by a commanding women’s eight that won its event in a time faster than the collegiate men’s fours that started ahead of it.

The fastest boat at the regatta was Vashon’s junior boys’ quad of Cooper Py, stroke, Rohin Petram, Seth Rosen and Oz Hichens. But the junior girls’ quad of Gabby Graves, Riley Lynch, Kate Kelly and Ava Lorentzen also had something to say with a win 30 seconds ahead of the second-place crew from Oregon Unlimited.

Parr said that some of the club’s largest highlights of the day came from the novice boys, whose eight won its event against what he described as the most competitive field, and the quad of Cian Sheer, Justin Barker, Lex Rosen and Ryan Weller, who won their event by five minutes.

Parr and some of the crew head to Boston this week for the Head of the Charles regatta, while the rest will go north of the border to The Head of the Gorge on Vancouver Island.