Rowing

Luke has been rowing with the recreational team at North Carolina Rowing Center since 2021, but this spring, he decided to join the competitive team.  This meant that he went straight from school to practice every day and didn't get home until close to 8:00 p.m. during the weekdays.  We didn't know if this schedule would be too rigorous, but he thrived with the additional exercise/activity and had an amazing season.  He and I traveled to several regattas all over the southeast (while Leah and Mark stayed home for soccer).  I can not say enough wonderful things about Luke's rowing coaches, teammates, and the families that we met.  It was such a fun spring watching Luke race in doubles and quads, and he improved his times significantly and sat in the Stroke Seat for many of his races.  His team qualified for regionals in May and were seconds away from making nationals this year.  Here are some pics of our new favorite sport:

The teamwork and positivity of the rowers is impressive.

NCRC Team at Higgins Henley.

Launching their quad.

On the way to one of Luke's regattas, we drove right through Greenville, SC, and Luke wanted to see our old house and visit downtown.  Here's a current view of the place where L&L were born and spent their first years:

The trees are getting so big!

We had lunch at a German restaurant/biergarten near our house in Greer.  This was a fun treat for my German-loving boy (who wouldn't allow me to take his picture):

Sousaphone up high on the shelf!

Downtown Greenville: We spent the afternoon walking through Falls Park and miss/love this pretty city!

Luke's regatta this particular weekend was at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Georgia.  This is the course from the 1996 Olympics and the original timing tower/spectator area remains:

The rowers spend regatta days together in the team area, and the families watch from the Parent Tents along the course.  The kids get their boats ready and row to the starting line:

My favorite NCRC boat.

The boats on the water are beautiful to watch, and there is lots of cow bell clanging and cheering from the stands as our racers pass by.  The regattas consist of Time Trials, Semi Finals, and Finals, and the races last all weekend:

One of the fun bonding parts of regatta weekends are the team dinners.  The teens and families enjoy this time together, and we were laughing at the boys one night as they walked next door to the grocery store for "snacks" the moment that we finished eating/left the restaurant:

Never enough food for teen boys.

Luke, Ollie, Ethan, and Trevor at Gainesville Scrimmage.

NCRC Boys at End of Year Banquet.

My favorite picture of them racing.

#RegattaLife

NCRC Men's U17 Quad at US Rowing Southeast Youth Championships.

Mamas joining this pic.

Downpour right before their race, and rainbow at starting line.

They had their fastest time ever in this race!

Post-Race snow cones.

Watching the Women's U17 Race and cheering for their teammates.

Luke and his teammate, Ollie, qualified for finals at the Dogwood Junior Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and came in 3rd out of all the U17men's doubles teams there!  This is incredible, as this regatta has almost 50 top clubs from the Midwest and Southeast competing!

Victory!

Proud Mamas!

Receiving their medals.

Posing with their amazing coaches.

Team Huddle.

Dogwood Junior Championship Team Picture.

Luke enjoyed his first competitive season so much and is already looking forward to returning next winter/spring!