Document text
--> --> Oct. 19: Ashland Rowing Club medals at World Games By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings Two events, two medals. That's how the Ashland Rowing Club finished in its first-ever competition in the World Masters Games, held this year in Melbourne, Australia from Oct. 5-13. Beth Geismar and Paula Backus brought home the gold medal in the Women's Masters C Coxless pair division, beating seven other boats in the 1,000-meter event with a winning time of 4:43.29. "They blew them away by several boat lengths," ARC's Jean Crawford said of the win. Geismar and Backus, along with Diane Green, Corinne Lombardi and Karen Carnival as the captain, also received a bronze medal competing in the Women's Masters C Coxed four division. The field in this event included 38 other boats and only the winner of each preliminary heat advanced to the semifinals. The five ladies won their preliminary heat, took second in the semis and third in the final race with a time of 4:04.11. MUBA won the gold, beating out Ashland by a mere 8.10 seconds. "They won the first heat, then placed third in their age group, and that's pretty good," Crawford said of the bronze medal-finish. Group C in the World Masters Games ranges in age from 43 to 49. Crawford said she thought the median age for the Ashland rowers was 44. What makes the medals shine brighter is the fact that ARC has only been around for two years, and most of the rowers have little experience on their rowing resume. "Beth has experience from her previous life as a young woman," Crawford said. "But the rest don't. Corrine just learned to row a year ago and we have only been in existence for two years last month." Crawford said the women that went to Australia decided to compete in the World Masters Games as early as this January, and that it was sort of a club joke at first. "They set the goal to compete in January," Crawford said. "We all talked about it - laughed about it - thinking that most of us were not at that level. But the four of them decided to go, practicing and training ... They managed to do it, to come home with two medals. That's pretty hot." Even if they didn't come back with any hardware, Crawford said the thought of competing was good enough. "It was a big deal to be good enough to even consider going," Crawford said. Crawford said that the women who row for ARC do it for more than just themselves. "Karen coaches for the junior program - eighth to 12th graders - she is a serious athlete, but also volunteers as a coach," Crawford said. "They teach rowing to kids and have a real commitment to the sport, which is pretty neat." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing