By: Julia Valencia

Opinion Editor

Entering their 2025 fall season, Los Gatos Rowing Club (LGRC) has some big shoes to fill for the upcoming year. After finishing their 2025 spring season off strong at Youth National Championships (YNC), LGRC athletes are now looking to dominate the US junior rowing realm at the upcoming regatta, Head of the Charles (HOTC), in Boston, Massachusetts. 

In June, 14 boats and 66 LGRC junior athletes went to Sarasota, Florida, to compete in YNC. Six boats left YNC with medals, including three national titles. Keeping their commanding hold on the competition, the Men’s Youth Varsity Quad won one of the most competitive categories with more than two seconds between them and the second-place crew. Similarly, the Women’s Youth Varsity Quad also won their highly competitive category, acting as redemption after a close race at the 2024 YNC, where the boat placed second. To wrap up the first-place finishers, the Men’s Youth Second Varsity Quad also walked away from Florida with gold medals. LGRC’s Men’s Youth Varsity Four ended up placing second overall, an impressive result for a club that mainly sculls. The Women’s Youth Second Varsity Quad, along with the under-16 eight, finished third in the nation after a hard-fought weekend.

A monumental record from last year’s HOTC has LGRC rowers working overtime to continue improving their speed and technique as they prepare for this year’s Boston race. In late 2024, LGRC’s Women’s Youth Coxed Varsity Quad won HOTC, having had the fastest time in the 5,000-meter race out of 53 other crews. LGHS graduates Emme Adams, Harri Cheetham, Kyra Cherlopalle, and senior Jenna Yoder were a part of the historic race. Additionally, the men’s youth coxed quad placed fourth out of 50, and the men’s youth four, including LGHS seniors Nolan Hamm and Jasper Powell, along with two other junior rowers, and coxed by junior Kai Yoo, placed fifth out of 90. 

This year, LGRC’s women’s team will send a coxed youth quad and two youth eights, one more than last year, after getting a bid for a second eight. The men’s team will send two more boats than last year, with the new addition of a coxed under-17 four and now two youth coxed fours. They are also re-sending their youth coxed quad. 

A factor that many often overlook is the sheer amount of time and effort that every LGRC athlete puts in just to be at the boathouse, with no promise of making the top boat. Balancing 18 hours of practice and roughly 100,000 meters each week, on top of schoolwork and outside commitments, demands complete dedication and discipline from these high schoolers.

As LGRC athletes continue their training for the fall season, make sure to keep an eye out for their race results on Instagram, @losgatosrowingclub, and if you are looking to try out a new sport, look no further than your local Lexington Reservoir.

(Sources: Regatta Central, US Rowing)