Sarasota, FL (April 5, 2017) – More than 300 athletes from Florida’s youth and high school rowing teams will gather at Nathan Benderson Park (NBP) for the Florida Scholastic Rowing Association’s (FSRA) Sculling Championships April 8-9. As Florida’s youth state championships for single, double and quad sculling events, over 35 teams will be competing in various categories for state rowing titles and high school teams will be looking to qualify for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s Nationals competition in May, which is a precursor to USRowing’s Youth Nationals competition in June, also at Nathan Benderson Park.
“We are pleased to welcome back Florida’s leading young rowers to the area,” said Robert J. Sullivan, president and CEO of the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates (SANCA). “We look forward to hosting at least 1,500 athletes and guests at this first of two FSRA championship rowing events this month.”
Teams from all over the state will travel to NBP to participate in the first part of the championship series. Due to the increased popularity and growth of youth rowing throughout the state, the Florida state finals have been broken out into two separate events—sculling and sweeps.
Scullers use two oars, one in each hand, and compete either as a single, double or a quad. Sweep rowers use only one oar and compete in pairs, fours or eights. Due to the number of rowers and oars to power each boat, sculling and sweep rowing also vary in their equipment use and requirements.
“The FSRA Youth Rowing Championship events begin with the sculling championships April 8-9, and continue with the sweep championships on April 29-30,” said Brice Crossley, regatta director, FSRA. “We are excited for our high school and youth teams to share the same course as future world champions and Olympians. We hope the experience will provide inspiration to rowers to continue their passion for the sport into adulthood.”
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ABOUT SANCA
The Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center, Inc. (SANCA), is a not-for-profit business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park, a community/public asset and world class, multi-use sports venue. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for our community and be an economic generator for the region. SANCA’s primary purpose is to develop and promote Nathan Benderson Park as a world class event center, team training site and Sarasota County Park, while providing outreach programs through recreation, safety training, education and volunteering as a service to our community.
ABOUT FSRA
FSRA is the governing body of scholastic-aged youth rowing in the state of Florida. FSRA operates as a non-profit organization established to promote rowing as a sport among the youth of Florida. All FSRA member youth teams (club and high school) active during the Florida spring racing season will be invited to participate in the season ending Florida State Championship Regatta.