the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Lyndhurst NJ, Ridgewood Crew put on an electrifying performance in the 2024 Winter Watt Farm at the Bergen County Rowing Center, its home base. Saturday’s event featured 154 entries from 12 different clubs and Ridgewood brought home 14 medals in total, the most of any club, including five golds, four silvers, and five bronzes.
Triumphant at Home: Ridgewood Crew Shines with 14 Medals at the 2024 Winter Watt Farm Regatta
Top Row from Left: Will Nasr, Daniel Kelly, James Ryan, Luciano Saladino, Michael Shkop, Andrii Onizhuk, and Tristan Reidel. Bottom Row from Left: Ryan Mincey, Thelma Flowers, and Elsa Friedrich. Photo Credit: Sergey Shkop
Ridgewood Crew head coach Boris Roque-Alvarez was thrilled: “This is a fantastic start to our season! The hard work and rigorous training paid off at the Winter Watt Farm. We’re competing and winning, which sets the stage for a promising spring season.”
Now in its second year, the Winter Watt Farm is hosted by the Passaic River Rowing Association and offers the chance for individual athletes to compete head-to-head during the winter at a timed, indoor competition on rowing machines. While the meet offers masters, collegiate, and open-age races, 11 of the events are tailored to youth competitors, from middle through high school.
Ridgewood kicked off the youth portion of the Winter Watt Farm with four straight first-place performances.
Jaya Suri (4:17.5) and Graham Richardson (3:26.2) took gold for Ridgewood in their respective Womens and Mens Middle School/U14 1000-meter races. The latter race featured the most rowers in a single event – 25 – at the meet.
The winning ways continued through the Womens Novice and Mens High School Freshman races. Ridgewood sophomore Ryan Mincey (8:11.6) took first in her 2000-meter race, besting second place by nearly one minute. Of note, Mincey’s 2k time was the fastest among all Ridgewood women on the day. Ninth-grader Tristan Reidel rowed to a personal best (7:10.2) and claimed gold in his 2000-meter race.
“I’m extremely pleased with our performance today. Our team showed real grit and dedication. Each rower’s effort today is a building block to even greater achievements ahead!” said Ridgewood Crew head coach Boris Roque-Alvarez.
Ridgewood also posted multiple medal winners in several events. In the Mens Novice 2000-meter, Michael Shkop (7:05.4) and Andrii Onizhuk (7:25.4) raced to second and third place, respectively. Ridgewood also finished with a silver and bronze in the Mens Junior Lightweight race – Daniel Kelly (7:20.4) and James Ryan (7:26.7) – and in the Womens Junior Lightweight race, where twin sisters Elsa Friedrich (8:25.5) and Anais Friedrich (8:25.9) came in second and third, with less than half a second separating them.
Ridgewood sophomore Luciano Saladino (7:17.9) claimed the team’s fifth gold medal of the day in the Mens U17 2000-meter race. In the Womens U17 event, sophomore Thelma Flowers (8:25.2) took the bronze.
In the final two races of the day, Ridgewood brought home a bronze and silver. Junior Julia Smith (8:35.9) took third place in the Womens U19 2000-meter race. While standout sophomore Will Nasr (6:35.3) came in second in the Mens U19 event, posting the fastest overall time for the Ridgewood men on Saturday.
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2024 Winter Watt Farm can be found at https://rccdn.cachefly.net/results/8249_508bbe83-a8cd-4e1f-995e-7eea3fe8d96f.pdf.
In the program’s 20-year history, Ridgewood Crew rowers have competed and excelled in both national and international competitions and its athletes have attracted interest from top rowing colleges and universities around the country. Ridgewood Crew offers several ways for you to experience our mission: join the team, volunteer, or donate. Student athlete programs begin with Learn-To-Row for middle schoolers. For more information contact Ridgewood Crew at http://www.ridgewoodcrew.com.
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