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Rowing club makes history at the Marina Aquatic Center

Sixteen Cubs competed in Loyola’s first rowing competition, along with Mr. Kyle Knoll, who teaches social science and graduated from Loyola in 2011, and Mr. Matthew Schaeffer, who is the co-director of Campus Ministry and head coach of the freshman water polo team. This event marked the first time Loyola has had two boats of Loyola students compete.

Senior Rob Lowe said, “It has been our goal as a club to find a way for the Loyola guys on various clubs to row together.”

It was a big accomplishment for Cubs to finally row together as a team that represented Loyola. The race took place on Oct. 31 at 7:30 a.m. at the Marina Aquatics Center in Marina del Rey. It was a 5000-meter race that lasted around 20 minutes for each boat. The teams consisted of two boats of eight men from different grade levels. There were no other boats present during their race; however, Loyola’s competition was followed by multiple races that consisted of rowers from various clubs such as the Long Beach Rowing club.

Sophomore Jack Love, a member of the Long Beach Rowing club, said, “Both [Loyola] boats did very well, but the Blue team couldn’t execute the turn as well as the white team and due to this, the white team got the win.”

Even though the Blue team lost, everyone was ecstatic over the fact that Loyola had the chance to be able to row together as a team.

Senior Bradley Alder said, “Regardless of who won, we all had a great time.” In addition to the Loyola students, faculty members, Schaeffer and Knoll, participated in a singles race against each other. It was a close race to say the least, but Mr. Schaeffer ended up with the victory.

Satisfied with his race, Mr. Schaeffer commented on his performance, “I kept a pretty good form for the whole race and left it all out on the water,” he said. Mr. Knoll says he’s looking forward to the rematch come Spring.

Apart from racing this past weekend, these 16 Cubs have one goal in mind. One of the moderators, Mr. Knoll, said, “My goal and dream is to send a boat of Loyola rowers to the 2016 Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championships, and with the help of these driven-talented guys, we can make it there.”

The Loyola Rowing club made history on Oct. 31, and they are planning on pursuing their future goals as the year progresses.

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