It was hot – really hot - in Oak Ridge Tennessee the weekend of August 12 through 15, 2021, when 15 CYC rowers and one former CYC member competed in the US Rowing Masters National Championships. Rowers raced while temperatures soared to the mid to high nineties. Fortunately, the water was cool, but the bad news was that the temperature disparity between water and air meant that races were delayed for fog 1 to 2 hours each morning of the regatta, meaning that many races took place during the hottest part of the day.

The Championships are a national regatta and CYC competed with clubs from all over the country and elite composite (“roladex”) crews (i.e. crews of rowers who have been selected for a composite team and don’t row with a local club). CYC rowed hard and picked up a number of medals!

Things started out strong Thursday, with a silver medal in CYC’s first race: the Mixed 8 (8 rowers, 8 oars + coxswain).

Friday was a great day for the CYC women rowers. The Women’s Quad (4 rowers, 8 oars) took gold. Then four of our sweep rowers raced the Women’s Straight Four (4 rowers, 4 oars, no coxswain) for a silver medal.

Sunday, Catawba took gold again in the Men’s Quad (4 rowers, 8 oars).

Despite the challenging conditions and the stiff competition, it was a fun and successful weekend in the Secret City.