VILLANOVA — Twenty Kennett/Unionville-area youth rowers from Newport Rowing Club (NRC) competed with a strong showing at the Mainline Slide, Philadelphia’s Indoor Rowing Championships at Villanova University. The annual event drew more than 500 rowers with an age span of 12 to 89 years old. Several area rowers brought home top honors and almost every NRC rower broke a personal record in the competition.
Unionville High School Junior Sabine Sellers took first place in Junior Women’s Lightweight division from a field of 84 rowers. This was Sabine’s first competition that included collegiate athletes as well. UHS junior Nathan Smith took home 6th place out of 94 rowers in the Junior Men’s competition. Patton Middle School 8th grader Willson Sellers earned sixth place in the Coxswain Men’s event, which also included collegiate athletes. At 13, he was one of the youngest competitors in the competition.
The Mainline Slide races are 2000 meters each with the team competing against junior and collegiate rowers from other schools and clubs. The Main Line Slide offers competition in events for men and women, heavyweight and lightweight, from juniors through veterans. In addition to these standard satellite regatta events, the Main Line Slide adds the opportunity for athletes to compete as a crew, against one another using the Concept II Slide.
Located along the Christina River, the Newport Rowing Club (NRC) was created in July to train young athletes and promote competitive and recreational rowing as a lifetime sport. By working with local businesses, area schools, the Club’s focus is to develop a state-of-the-art rowing center and nationally recognized competitive rowing program. More than 90 area high school students head down to the Christina River most afternoons to hone their rowing skills and work together to become smoother, faster and more competitive in the water. For more information, visit the Newport Rowing Club website at www.newportrowingclub.org.
