DSC’s Scullers Mark Several Firsts at Pacific Invite Regatta

DSC kicked off the Spring/Summer sprint race season on Saturday at the Pacific Invite Regatta on Lake Merced in San Francisco. Gabriel, who raced in a single for the first time in the morning, paired up with 14-year-old Suleyman in an afternoon Under 16 doubles race. They came in first by two seconds in the most exciting race of the day! Kensley and Scarlette, in their first-ever doubles event, and Elise in her single also finished with strong final pushes in their races. In the Masters races, Rebecca filled in admirably for an injured sculler in what was DSC’s first-ever men’s quad race. She joined Renaldo, Bob O. and Bob L. in what turned out to be a very unusual race! Two hundred fifty meters into the 1,750-meter race, they were run over by the quad next to them, who rowed diagonally across their bow—another first in the lore of DSC! With only minor damage to DSC’s brand new boat, the referees stopped the race and returned all scullers to the starting line for a do over. Never having even practiced together, DSC ran a good race against a very tough set of much younger competitors. Rebecca later joined Ann, Jean and Megan, racing again in the women’s quad, another first-time foursome. It marked the 20th anniversary since Megan, in the stroke seat, had raced in high school! Despite some challenging wind conditions, all of DSC’s boats steered a good course and finished strong. The weather was perfect, and a potluck feast punctuated the races all day long! A great time was had by all!