Rockaway Olympic Canoe & Kayak Club

Rockaway Olympic Canoe & Kayak Club

MAY 2001 NEWS LETTER

"SPRING"ING INTO THE PADDLING SEASON

The 2001 Season has definitely begun. Everyday there are more paddlers out on Lake Sebago. Our Junior and Juvenile paddlers, along with some Bantam athletes took to the warm waters in Palm Beach, Florida with the National coach in March and April and have returned very determined to make big waves in Sacramento, California at Nationals this year!!!

PALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB WELCOMES PADDLERS

Coach Paul Podgorski, Susannah Stucchio, John (?), Laura Greifenberger, Bartosz Woljski*, Angel Perez*, Nicole Uebel, Jim Farnum, Erika Lenzner, Senior Team National Coach, Jerzy D., Front: Amanda Donahue, Laurel Herriman, Megan Bussey, Erin Martin and Carrie Johnson. (*2000 US Olympic Team)

We have put together a terrific schedule that is available on our WEB Site. Please check in with us from time to time to see if there are any additional races or events. KIDS CAMP 2001 will run for the first three weeks of July, beginning Sunday, July 1^st. The registration packet for this camp is also available on our WEB Site. Oh, did I mention that we have a WEB SITE: Check it out at: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~dallas/CanoeKayakROCK/

If your membership is current you may E-Mail to Genie Donahue at kayakuku@aol.com for the member password to access member materials.

IMPORTANT: If you do not use the internet, please contact Mike Donahue immediately at (845) 359-7291 and he will arrange to have all member materials sent to you via regular mail at the time they are posted on the new WEB Site. Please give him your current mailing address.

3rd ANNUAL FAMILY FUN RACE on SUNDAY JULY 15th

We are going to have our 3rd ANNUAL FAMILY FUN RACE on Sun. JULY 15th at the Lake and would love to have a big turnout for this great day, which is open to all ACA members. Registration is $10.00 per family. Participation prizes will be awarded to all children under 14 years of age. This race is intended to focus on the family, especially the little paddlers among us. These determined little guys and gals are sometimes overlooked at the big races and have to wait all day for one short race. We want to give them a day of fun with many opportunities to compete and come down the course.

We will have Mom & Dad & Me races for the 7 and under group. A Bantam Novice category for up to 10 years (by January 1, 2001), and Bantam (14 years of age (by January 1, 2001). The race course will be the short course. The family fun races will include scupper and regular racing kayak and canoes. We will offer several types of races and see what people sign up for before deciding which races will be fun. There should be at least three boats entered into a race for that race to run. Grandma’s, Grandpa’s, Aunts & Uncles and even Great Grandparents are welcome, and will be included in the fun.

SERIOUS MEMBERSHIP MATTER

The ACA has informed us that only about 50% of our members have responded to the membership dues notice mailed in March and due by April 1^st.

PLEASE, PLEASE send in your membership fees immediately. You cannot use Rockaway boats, attend meetings, get the WEB site password or use the tent platform if you do not have a current ROCKAWAY membership. Remember: Paying your ACA/ROCK dues together saves you $$$ An application form is enclosed for your convenience.

NEW TENT PLATFORM AND EQUIPMENT

This year we would like to focus on repair and preservation of equipment and the purchase of a men’s K-2. We would like to purchase a quality cover for our new K-4. In addition, the club has taken a tent platform at Lake Sebago, and this is our first venture into a club facility. We would like to host the annual Labor Day Square Dance and also host a Spaghetti Dinner for the Saturday of Memorial Day Races. These two fund raising events will completely cover the costs of the tent platform for this year and we will determine our needs for a facility for next year at the Fall Meeting. This will be a major fund raising effort and any suggestions and volunteer help for fund raising would be greatly appreciated. (?Raffle? — Member to volunteer to purchase items to use for raffle or someone to have a business(es) donate items to raffle). Erin Donahue would like to help organize a square dance for after dinner on the Saturday of Memorial Day races, but we will need a non-racing family to coordinate this event since it will be during a large race.

Scott continues to work tenaciously on preserving the cabins (a Rockaway Camp Project) — and I am sure he would welcome assistance on this very huge project. We would like our racers to show up for a day of work and play on Sunday, May 20th. We will wash and polish boats, repair boats where needed, and finish with a Pot Luck Dinner (Shell-lee Krilla boat repair and washing Coordinator, and Ann Marie Mulholland, Coordinator for Pot Luck Lunch/Dinner- call 914-774-4338 Eves. only - if you have any questions).

TENT PLATFORM USAGE MEETING MAY 20^TH3:00PM

There will be a short meeting on the tent platform at 3:00 on Sunday May 20^th to discuss the use of the new platform and working out arrangements for overnight use of the platform by members. We will nominate and elect a facility steward to oversee the use of the platform and coordinate a schedule for members who wish to use the platform overnight. We will also have to discuss needed equipment for the tent platform, water for the platform and establish some general rules of platform usage. If you intend to use this platform you should plan on attending this meeting. We will also discuss usage of the platform during Kids Camp 2001.

LET’S ALL PULL TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS

THE BEST ROCK YEAR YET !

****RACING NEWS****

We have started the season strong. Bartosz Wolkski, Nicole Uebel, Amanda Donahue and Susannah Stucchio participated in the World Cup Races in Gainesville, GA — April 13-15.

Bartosz had an amazing finish in the K-1 200m (his favorite) and photo finished with the first four coming over the line almost simultaneously. He medalled in the K-2 500 and 200 as well as in the K-4 race. (More details in an upcoming article in CanoeSport) — Actual times available on the USACK WEB Site.

Nicole won the 500 K-1 event, the K-2 500 and 1000 events and the K-4 500 Event. She took 2^nd in the K-1 1000m. Susannah Stucchio partnered with Laurel Herriman of the SanDiego team to take 3^rd in both the 500 and 1000 K-2 Events. Amanda Donahue and Susannah Stucchio were part of the K-4 team that took 2^nd place. In addition, both Amanda Donahue and Susannah Stucchio were among the top 6 finishers in the K-1 500 Final.

Later in April, Nicole traveled to JAPAN to race in Senior competition against some of the best women paddlers in the world. She finished an amazing 5^th in the K-1 "A" Final, for both the 500 and 200m races. In addition she placed 2^nd in the 500 K-2 and 3^rd in the 200 K-2 events. The US K-4 team of Nicole Uebel, Erika Lenzner (Pittsburgh) , Carrie Johnson and Laurel Herriman (San Diego) (all Juniors) bested all of the other nations taking the Gold Medal in both the 500 m and the 200m races. If the enthusiasm of these paddlers is any indication of success, this will truly be a remarkable season.

UNIFORM CORNER

Finally, the ROCK team uniform has been selected. It will be the teal and white lycra racing shirt which was used last year at nationals. Team members should keep this uniform to use at all competitions.

As you all should know, TEAM UNIFORM MUST BE WORN WHILE COMPETING.

IT IS THE POLICY OF OUR CLUB TO HAVE THIS SHIRT FOR CLUB MEMBERS ONLY. THIS SHIRT IS NOT TO BE TRADED OR SOLD.

"T" shirts however may be traded or sold by members or by the club.

Members who do not have this racing tank should plan on purchasing this shirt.

Ann Marie Mulholland ordered shirts over the winter and we have five shirts available at this time. Athletes going to Nationals get first choice.

If you are racing at Nationals this year, you must purchase this shirt immediately.

The three ROCK "T" shirts in teal, royal blue or beige with flowers can be used at local competitions this year. As of next season, 2002, all ROCK racers must have the new racing shirt and use this shirt at all competitions.

Please let Ann Marie Mulholland know immediately if you will need a shirt for the coming season, as the available quantities are limited and we will have to order more shirts if we need more than are available. The price of this shirt is $45.00 including custom embroidery. We will wait to place the order until after Memorial Day races. Please place your order and pay for your shirt by that time for the 2001 season WOMEN XS S M L XL or MEN's M L XL.

SWEATSUITS ?

Some racers have indicated that they would like to add a lightweight club sweat suit to our club uniform. Genie Donahue has information on a company that makes a great quality personalized sweat suit at an affordable price and a sample of this item. We would be expected to order at least 24 sweat suits to make it affordable. This project requires a volunteer to coordinate the order, sizes, etc., and collect the money for the suits. There are at least 7 members who have already placed orders, but we have not collected money, since we need to have an interest. If you are interested in doing this project for our club, please contact Genie Donahue immediately. If you are interested in adding your name to the list of members interested in getting a sweat suit, check the ROCK WEB site for the name of the person coordinating this project

IMPORTANT KIDS CAMP NEWS

In an effort to minimize late registration frenzy for volunteer registration personnel, the Sprint Racing Committee and Rockaway are instituting a policy of adding a late registration fee to all Camp Registration received after June 15^th, 2001. This fee will be $25.00 per camper (no more than $50.00 per family).

PASSING OF A FRIEND

We are saddened to pass along notice that our good paddling friend Gene Krawczyk died on April 14, 2001. Gene was paddling alone near his home when his boat overturned in frigid water. He could not make it ashore. We are heartbroken at this news and some club members would like to establish a fund in his name to be used to purchase a trophy for USACK Nationals. If you would like to make a donation toward this trophy send your check, so marked, to Ann Marie Mulholland, 110 School Road, Monroe, NY 10950 payable to ROCKAWAY. Please include a note about the purpose of the donation. After we review a list of events that need trophies, we will ask his brother Henry to select an appropriate event for this trophy.

Rockaway Olympic Canoe & Kayak Club

American Canoe Association

PADDLE AMERICAN CLUB

And USACK Member Club

ACA AND CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

NAME: ________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ________________________________________________

________________________________________________

TEL. # ( )__________________ ( )_____________________

MEMBERSHIP (Circle) $65.00 Individual $125.00 Family

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ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS: PLEASE LIST ALL NAMES

Spouse and children under 18 years of age on April 1, 2001

NAME: _______________________________Date of Birth___________

Please mail to:

AMERICAN CANOE ASSOCIATION

PADDLE AMERICAN CLUB MEMBERSHIP

7432 Alban Station Blvd., Suite B-226

Springfield, VA 22150

MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: AMERICAN CANOE ASSOCIATION