Good things came in three’s for Norwalk River Rowing at this past weekend’s Philadelphia Independence Day Regatta.
The Norwalk River teams, which are recruited from Norwalk and surrounding towns, including Darien, won three gold medals. The competition took place over three days of exciting racing amongst some of the top clubs in the nation.
Directed by the summer racing team coaches Yuri Kolomiets and Darien resident Catharine Labine, Norwalk River also captured four silver and three bronze medals, adding onto the impressive success they achieved during the spring racing season.
While there were many stand-out performances, a particularly poignant event was the Women's Junior 4+ Final. Norwalk River’s Alex Stonehill and Caroline Demko were previously unable to finish their race in the Nationals due to the injuries they sustained in a serious car crash on their way to the Tennnesee.
At the Philadelphia races, however, Stonehill and Demko, along with teammates Kylie O’Connor, who was also making her first return to competition after a lengthy illness, Julia Barr, and cox Vishesh Ramesh, won silver in the Women's Junior 4+ for Norwalk River.
The Demko family had more to celebrate as Caroline and her father won gold in the Father Daughter 2x.
An exciting Mens Junior 16 2x Final resulted in Chad Ballard and James Koenigsberg winning the gold medal. Rounding off another successful outing for Norwalk River Rowing, the Men's Junior 4+ gold medal was won by a boat which is becoming much talked about in the Northeast; the crew consisting of David Sullivan, Stefan Petreski, Kyle Mikesh, Matt Koenigsberg and cox Ronan Lane .
Norwalk River Rowing recruits their athletes from several local towns including Darien, Stamford, Norwalk, Wilton, Ridgefield, Westport, and Pound Ridge. A world class coaching staff provides a comprehensive program of rowing courses and activities for both youths and adults at all ability levels.
Here are the full results for Norwalk River Rowing’s finalists and semi-finalists:
Race 12S2: Womens Junior 4+ Semi-Final 2 @ 09:42 AM
6th 6 Norwalk River (J.Barr, A.Jenkins, C.Demko, A.Stonehill) 08:17.06
Race 14S2: Mens Junior 16 1x Semi-Final 2 @ 09:52 AM
4th 2 Norwalk River (C.Ballard) 08:21.94
Race 15S2: Mens Junior 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 10:02 AM
4th 1 Norwalk River (J.Blake, W.Taverna) 07:26.99
Race 15S3: Mens Junior 2x Semi-Final 3 @ 10:07 AM
2nd 3 Norwalk River (K.Mikesh, S.Petreski) 07:23.27
Race 18S2: Womens Junior 4+ Semi-Final 2 @ 10:27 AM
2nd 5 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko, K.OConnor, J.Barr, [V.Ramesh]) 07:55.65
Race 25S2: Mens Junior 16 4+ Semi-Final 2 @ 10:47 AM
4th 6 Norwalk River A (J.Koenigsberg, C.Ballard, K.Petreski, L.McDonough) 07:22.68
Race 29S1: Mens Junior 4+ Semi-Final 1 @ 11:02 AM
2nd 3 Norwalk River A (D.Sullivan, S.Petreski, K.Mikesh, M.Koenigsberg, [M.Stout]) 07:13.28
Race 41S2: Womens Junior 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 11:32 AM
6th 6 Norwalk River (A.Jenkins, J.Barr) 08:52.00
Race 42S2: Mens Junior 16 2x Semi-Final 2 @ 11:47 AM
1st 3 Norwalk River (C.Ballard, J.Koenigsberg) 07:38.18
Race 40b: Mens Inter. Light 4+ Heat 2 @ 01:35 PM
3rd 5 Norwalk River
(J.Massari, P.Mueller, N.Massari, J.Blake) 07:03.01
Race 6: Father/daughter 2x (1000m) Final @ 02:57 PM
1st 4 Norwalk River (M.Demko, C.Demko) 04:22.97
Race 15: Mens Junior 2x Final @ 03:33 PM
3rd 6 Norwalk River (K.Mikesh, S.Petreski) 07:14.69
Race 18: Womens Junior 4+ Final @ 03:48 PM
2nd 2 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko, K.OConnor, J.Barr, [V.Ramesh]) 08:04.36
Race 29: Mens Junior 4+ Final @ 04:43 PM
1st 5 Norwalk River A (D.Sullivan, S.Petreski, K.Mikesh, M.Koenigsberg, [M.Stout]) 06:55.93
Race 42: Mens Junior 16 2x Final @ 06:21 PM
2nd 4 Norwalk River (C.Ballard, J.Koenigsberg) 07:33.46
Race 62b: Womens 2- Heat 2 @ 09:00 AM
3rd 1 Norwalk River (A.Stonehill, C.Demko) 08:52.93
