Greater Lawrence Rowing Masters team kicked off its fall racing season by recently participating in three regional regattas: Springfield Rockrimmon Regatta, CRI Fall Classic, and the Head of the Merrimack.
Springfield Rockrimmon Regatta
GLR Scullers Frank and Michele Maldari traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts on September 12 to participate in the Springfield Rockrimmon Regatta, which is a three mile stake race. Frank Maldari started the day by racing in the Mens Masters 1x 55-64 event, and finished with a time of 22:56.656. This time earned Frank a third place finish in a field of 7. Later in the day, Frank joined up with Michele Maldari to row in the Mixed Masters 2x event. The husband and wife duo had a strong performance, finishing second with an adjusted time of 20:45.1170, just under 11 seconds off of the gold medal time.
CRI Fall Classic
On September 19, GLR participated in the CRI Fall Classic by racing in two events.
Early fog gave way to summer-like conditions on the famous/infamous Charles River by the time Sculler Frank Maldari took to the water for the Mens Masters Lightweight 1x event. Frank powered to a first place finish with an adjusted time of 21:12.2, 12 seconds ahead of his competition.
Later that morning, GLR Mens Masters raced in the Mens Open 4+ event. While clearly out-rowed by their much younger competition from Riverside Boat Club and CRI, they held their own with a time of 24:29.2 and a sixth-place finish. This was the first head race for 3 of the 4 men in the 4+, having just started their rowing careers within the last year. Rowing in the 4+ were: Mike Bronder, Jim Gillman, Doug O’Flaherty, and John Murphy, with cox Morrisey Bronder.
Head of the Merrimack
Greater Lawrence Rowing had 6 entries across four events at the Head of the Merrimack, held on September 28 at Essex Rowing Club on the Merrimack River.
Scullers Frank Maldari, Andrew Larocque and Steve Anthony competed in the Mens Masters 1x event, with each of them finishing in the top half of the field. Battling against a stiff head wind and choppy waters, Frank Maldari held off the field by taking gold with a time 28:55.90. Andrew Larocque and Steve Anthony finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with times of 31:34.44 and 32:14.23.
The women were up next, competing in the Womens Masters 4+ event. Rowers Linda Piette, Sloane Gugger, Amy Franz, and Jane Waldman, with cox Katie Bourdeau, finished in second place with a time of 36:11.92.
Frank Maldari combined forces with Michele Maldari to compete in the Mixed Masters 2x event. They had a solid race, despite the conditions, and took home a first place gold medal with a time of 28:42.41.
Wrapping up the day’s events for GLR were Jim Gillman and Mike Bronder, in the uncontested Mens Masters 2x event. The novice adult scullers managed to steer a clean course, stay afloat, and finished with a time of 32:42.38.
