womens 8
womens 8
womens 8
 

16:45.4 (second)
16:49.5 (third)
17:45.7 (seventh)

Coach Scott Gordon reports: "With two Junior 8+ boats racing against such competitors as Fairfax County Sculling and Rowing, Prince William Crew Association, Wake Rowing, Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, and rival Thompson Boat Center all with multiple entries; ODBC men's eights took gold with a time of 14:37.18 and silver with a time of 14:58.99. Both eights set new course records, but our first eight smashed the previous record set in 2005 by almost 25 seconds and took home the coveted Eric Rothstein Cup. Our men's 1st and 2nd 4+ proved just as strong also placing in the gold and silver positions beating multiple boats from Wake Rowing, Christchurch School, Thompson Boat Center, and Prince William Crew Association. Our first place 4+ finished in a time of 17:28.30 just ahead of our second place 4+ with a time of 17:39.74. Special mention should be given to coxswain Allie Zickar who coxed the silver medal men’s 2nd 8+ and immediately switched boats to cox the gold medal men’s 4+. All of our coxswains steered perfect courses and navigated the challenging turn with precision and expertise, literally “wowing” other teams on the water, and together with their rowers, have set the stage for races to come; the ODBC Men have once again raised the bar for performance. Our boats race again next weekend at Sandy Run and are prepared to continue their undefeated racing season."

** Time being considered, our 1st 8+ also beat such teams as: George Mason University, The College of William and Mary, North Carolina State University, St. Johns College, and American University and finished less than 5 seconds behind a Naval Academy Lightweight crew.

** Time being considered, our 1st 4+ also beat such teams as: James Madison University, American University, University of Richmond, George Mason University, Catholic University, and North Carolina State University.

Coach Nicole Garofalo reports:  "On Sunday October 5th, the Old Dominion Boat Club Women's Rowing Program competed at the Occoquan Challenge.  Despite a rough time with the infamous 180 degree turn, the ODBC first boat took gold and the ODBC second eight took bronze, again less than 5 seconds off the winning time of the first boat.  The third ODBC eight came in 5th out of the field of 11, beating three other team's first eights in the process. ODBC also placed one entry in the Junior women's four race.  Although never having practiced together as a boat and after just getting off the water from the eights' race less than an hour beforehand, the boat still managed to take silver in the event.  The ODBC boats race again next weekend at Sandy Run and are looking forward to a future rematch with rivals Thompson Boat Club."
 

womens 8
womens 8
womens 8
womens 4

16:57.1533 (first)
17:02.1533 (third)
18:16.25 (fifth)
19:27.52 (second)
 

From Coach Scott Gordon's odbcmen blog:  "On Sunday October 12th, the Old Dominion Boat Club Men’s Rowing Program competed at the Occoquan Chase, the men’s program’s second to last race of the season. With two Junior 8+ boats racing against such competitors as Juniper Rowing Club, Gunston Day School, Poet Rowing Association, Mobjack Rowing Association, Fairfax County Sculling and Rowing, Prince William Crew Association, Wake Rowing, Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, and rival Thompson Boat Center (TBC) all with multiple entries; ODBC’s 1st 8+ once again won Gold with a time of 16:06.34, a massive 32 seconds faster than rival TBC, adding to their undefeated season.

"The ODBC Men’s 2nd 8+ suffered what should have been a catastrophic no-fault equipment failure shortly after starting the race, losing their steering device. The boat still managed a brilliant race with coxswain Allie Zickar at the helm, finishing in 5th place. The 2nd 8+, having to stop rowing twice to avoid hitting land, still finished in a time of 17:38.45, beating ten other teams. It’s clear that without the need to stop, our men’s 2nd 8+ could have easily finished with a silver medal.

"The ODBC Men’s 1st and 2nd 4+ went head to head against some extremely fast boats from teams such as Mobjack Rowing Association, Woodrow Wilson High School, Falls Lake Rowing, Poet Rowing Association, Christchurch School, Thompson Boat Center, and Prince William Crew Association, all with multiple entries. The ODBC 1st 4+ managed a strong finish in the Bronze Medal position in a time of 19:27.71 just two seconds ahead of the club’s 5th place 4+ with a time of 19:29.56.

"Special mention should be given to ODBC coxswain Allie Zickar who coxed the Men’s 2nd 8+ with expertise and composure under extreme circumstances after their equipment failure, and also to ODBC coxswain Elliott Oakley who steered a perfect course, passing eight boats with ease and guiding his hardworking undefeated crew to Gold."

Coach Nicole Garofalo reports:  "This past Sunday, October 12th 2008, the Old Dominion Boat Club's junior women competed in the Occoquan Chase and came away with a decisive victory over neighboring rivals Thompson Boat Center. ODBC went off as the first bow number in the field of 19 competitors in the junior women's eight category, overtaking three open women's eights from the previous event in the process. ODBC won the race in a time of 17:56.8 over second place TBC's time of 18:20.6. ODBC's second eight narrowly missed capturing bronze by finishing just over 3 seconds from third place finishers Fairfax County Sculling and Rowing. ODBC's third eight finished 12th, meanwhile beating out 2 other team's first eights and several other teams second eights.

"This weekend the ODBC junior women are off from racing but will be back in action the weekend of October 25th in Philadelphia at the Head of the Schuylkill regatta."

womens first 8
womens second 8
womens third 8
 

17:56.89 (first)
18:42.51 (fourth)
19:39.46 (twelfth)

Coach Scott Gordon reports:  The Old Dominion Boat Club’s Junior Men’s 8+ competed this weekend at the 44th Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. Battling 39 degree temperatures, 20 mph head winds, rough water and fatigue over the 3.2 mile technically challenging course, the ODBC men placed 12th out of 66 competing teams. The Head of the Charles Regatta is the largest two day regatta in the world hosting nearly 10,000 athletes and 300,000 spectators.

"On Sunday, race day, the speed and discipline ODBC showed was very impressive given the mean headwind greeting crews heading down the powerhouse stretch; even when the wind became a tailwind as the course wound around in the other direction, the chop on the water made it tough to pick up a lot of speed.**

" 'Posting a time of 16:03.19 is hardly enough to call 12th place anything other than a victory. The field was so fast, the top 12 times so close, ODBC was only 18 seconds from earning a Bronze medal, and less than 50 seconds from the Gold medal position.' says Men’s Coach Scott Gordon. 'The boat has never moved so fast and looked so clean and disciplined.'

"Also on a positive note, the ODBC Men’s 8+ beat perennial championship teams such as Radley College Boat Club, St. Catherine’s Rowing Club, Thompson’s Boat Club, Community Rowing (CRI), Choate Rosemary Hall, Princeton National Rowing Association, Oak Ridge Rowing, Walt Whitman Crew Boosters, as well as last year’s Stotesbury Champions - St. Joes Prep.

“ 'Finishing with a time so close to medal position and beating some of the fastest crews in the country really makes the entire program proud, and recognizes that our hard work has paid off. Being two seconds shy of our finishing time last year while fighting such a fierce headwind means the program is growing, improving, and working everyday towards a new definition of excellence; and with rowers looking to study at and compete for such schools as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, USNA, and UVA, I just couldn’t be prouder.' says Gordon.

"The Old Dominion Boat Club has earned an automatic entry into next year’s 45th regatta, and finishes the 2008 season on November 2nd at The Head of the Occoquan at Sandy Run Regional Park Rowing Facility. The Men’s program looks to end their undefeated local season in good form by once again winning Gold and will attempt to break a third course record in their fourth and final local race."

Read Scott's blog.

women's first 8
women's second 8
women's third 8

18:17.28 (first)
19:14.00 (seventh)
20:24.83 (thirteenth)