Lake Oswego Community Rowing

Club Highlights

Pryce Waites (09') places 6th at Junior World Championships in Briva, France.

2009 graduate of Lake Oswego High School and LOCR's most decorated athlete, Pryce Waites, placed 6th at the Junior World Championships in the Junior Men's 4+ (JM4+) with a time of 6:36:78.  Blasting off the starting line in the heats Pryce and his Canadian teammates moved straight to the A Final.  In the A Final they faced some very tough challengers, the Germans, Australians, Italians, French, and British teams.  To see results and photos go to http://www.worldrowing.com/index.php?pageid=91. To view Pryce's race look for JM4+.

Youth Nationals Highlights

The combination of Jessica Lund and Katie Smith won bronze in the Lightweight Women's 2x. This was their second appearance at Nationals in this event. Their win at Regionals gave them mental momentum heading into competition at Nationals. Their field was 22 entries strong. Jessica and Katie controlled each of the rounds prior to the Grand Final. They had stiff competition: 2.45 seconds separated the top four boats.This is the first women's medal at Nationals for an LOCR crew. They edged out the fourth place crew by .23 seconds.

Pryce Waites and Thomas Cameron once again competed in two events at Nationals, the 2x and 4+. Veterans of Youth Nationals, this was their third trip. Their skill in small boat racing was tested. Narrowly missing the podium, this 2x took fourth. Racing was far from over for this duo.  Having spent  most of the season in the men's 4+ accompanied by John O'Leary, Robbie Bruss and coxswain Catie Bass. This combination had moved solidly through two years of racing together and was looking to better their finish from last year's Nationals. In one of the most competitive events, this 4+ made the Grands and finished 6th.

The Lightweight Men's 8+ made their debut at Nationals. A boat that was formed this year found late season speed, enough to qualify for Nationals. In an event where all the athletes weigh 155 lbs, tight racing is a guarantee. What separated the entrants this year was experience. Our men gained a healthy respect for the speed generated at a National Championships. Four of the athletes in this boat graduated this spring. 

For me it was a very humanizing experience, I know last year when we saw the other teams in the grand finals we were all thinking they were massive and that we would never be as strong as they were. When we made it to the grand finals this year, I realized that we had reached that point that we thought impossible. Also, Nationals is a great place to see and meet people, they're not just rowing machines! They're people too! – John O’Leary

Even though our team wasn’t the best, we could still celebrate this sport and acknowledge all of the work that each athlete put into it, even those not on our team. I felt a connection with my competitors through rowing. We all enjoyed going fast and being challenged by each other on the race course.  – Jessica Lund

Nationals was a blast! I think it was much easier the second time around -- I didn't have quite as much nervousness as I did the year before. As a result, I think the races for the men's four were much easier. Because we weren't as stressed, we were able to focus more intently on our race plans and we executed them much more efficiently. I'm super excited that we met our season goal of making it to the grand finals; we've been together for two years as a boat, and I think that closeness really contributed to our success. – Catie Bass