Norwalk Rowers Powering Through Fall Season

Norwalk rowers are showing strong results this fall season, bringing home numerous medals for Norwalk River Rowing through the lion’s share of the season’s regattas.

September 29 found Norwalk River Rowing at the Head of the Merrimack in Methuen, Massachusetts, at a regatta with 148 entries from 27 clubs from seven states.  It was a warm, sunny day, and Norwalk’s youth teams came home with 6 first-place finishes, 5 second-place finishes and one third.  The second-place finish in the first varsity eight was particularly sweet because the boys overheard an oarsman from another team explain to a teammate who was unfamiliar with Norwalk River’s colors that the boat was from Norwalk and was likely to come in last.  Norwalk River beat that boat handily on its way to its second-place finish.  On the boys team, Norwalk residents Willem Pacella and Kevin Conover helped pull the first varsity quad to a first-place finish while Norwalk residents Chris Martensson and Joel Ayala helped take second in the same event and Norwalk resident Vishesh Ramesh coxed the lightweight four to another second.  Fellow Norwalk resident Brian Helms contributed to the sweet second place finish in the first varsity eight and a third place in the lightweight double.  On the girls side, Norwalk residents Amber Baker and Mary Wimpfheimer took first in the lightweight four while Amelia Ornato and Nicole Vacas brought home a first place in the girls quad and a second-place finish in the four. 

On October 6, Norwalk River braved the cold and rain at the Head of the Riverfront on the Connecticut River in Hartford, a regatta with over 3,000 rowers and 608 boats in competition.  The youth team came back with the DiscoverRe Cup for its first-place finish in the boys varsity four plus coxswain, along with two silvers and three bronzes in other events.  Not to be outdone, the masters team (adults) came back with a gold in the mixed eight plus coxswain.  Norwalk resident Kevin Conover helped power the boys quad to its silver and the second varsity eight to its bronze, while fellow Norwalk residents Brian Helms and Willem Pacella also rowed in the second varsity eight that took a bronze.  Chris Martensson helped pull the second varsity four to its silver.  Norwalk residents Elisabeth Stonehill, Paula Palermo and Tom Helmkamp helped power the masters mixed eight plus coxswain to its first place finish. 

On October 12th, Norwalk River spent a gorgeous fall day in Shelton Connecticut at the Head of the Housatonic, one of the largest single-day head races in the country with approximately 700 boats competing.  The youth team brought back two gold medals and a bronze medal, and the masters had two boats finish fourth, just seconds behind the medal winners.  Norwalk resident Brian Helms helped power the boys second varsity four plus coxswain to its first place finish, while novices Daniel Ely and Joel Ayala rowed in the novice eight plus coxswain to its third-place finish.  Norwalk residents Elisabeth Stonehill and Sarah Kline rowed in the masters womens four that took fourth, and Tom Helmkamp also of Norwalk was in the master mens four that took fourth. 

This past weekend Norwalk River Rowing sent select boats up to Boston for the Head of the Charles, one of the premier “head” regattas in the world, attracting over 9,000 athletes and 300,000 spectators.  Norwalk River’s top finishing boat was the boys first varsity four, which came in an impressive tenth in a field of 84.  The girls first varsity four with Norwalk residents Mary Wimpfheimer, Amelia Ornato and Nicole Vacas also earned an automatic bid to return next year with a finish of 37 out of a strong field of 85.  The masters had five boats entered in the regatta, with the mens veterans (age 60+) single having the strongest finish, 29 out of 51.  The adult boats included more Norwalk rowers: Tom Helmkamp, Elisabeth Stonehill, Sarah Kline, Lisa Gregory, Lisa Sanders, Terri Polley and Juliet Brocki. 

This coming Sunday NRR's youth racing team closes their fall season at the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia.