USRowing Nationals 2025 wrapped up on Sunday June 15th with an outstanding performance across the board by the River Rats! While the weather was spotty the Nationals organizers did an incredible job finding a way to continue the big stage racing.

CBC qualified 6 boats, each in a different event. The 4- was a completely new crew of girls with the exception of Sophie Bell (whom was in the 4- boat in 2024 where the boat won gold medals). With captain Bell (and returning champion, familiar with the event) leading the crew from the bow the crew had great races across the board. Layla Sisca stroked the boat fearlessly, followed by Camilla Calderwood, Senior leader Reagan Weneck in 2 seat. The straight four finished in second place at the A Final and were all smiles, super proud of all of their hard work!

The teams youngest gals were the U16 4x+ led by coxswain, Mishi Khamish from Staples High School. Stern pair was a returning duo from last years event, LeeLee Alix and Emily Goertel. With bow pair being Catherine Parent and Kate Surette (whom finished her novice season in the spring!). Khamish’s boat finished 5th in the country on the grand stage of the A final. It sure was a nail biter at the finish line as a photo finish took place with both CBC and Parati’s boats within a second of finishing in 3rd place.

It was a great 6th in the nation finish for the U17 4x! The boat was led by Westport’s Skye Coats, New Canaan’s Leighton Busby in 3 seat, in 2 seat Darien’s Brooke LeBaron, and bowed by Noelle Basta of Stamford. This diverse Fairfield County representation was exciting to see blend together and perform as outstanding as they did. The girls worked so hard all season and deserved to be top 10 in the country.

Under primarily coach Steve Baranoski’s leadership, the club’s V4x also had a great nationals experience! The crew finished 8th in the country, 2 seconds behind 7th place finisher. It was a tight race as 9th place finisher, Nereid finished with a time difference of .8 behind the CBC boat led by Captain, Iso McCoy in bow seat. Christina Charnin rowed in 2 seat, Charlotte Mickelborough (3 seat), and stroked by Sophia Dranchak.

A crew primarily of rising seniors earned their seats in the 2V4x event. Sophia Kearns sat in stroke seat, followed by Alex Maniatty in 3 seat, Holly Hulme in 2 seat and Tanaya Dixit in bow seat. Their finals race didn’t require a photo finish but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a strong race/battle down the course. Baranoski’s boat fought off the start line and hung in the race, pushing themselves to new limits and learning new skills in racing at the Nationals level.

The Varsity 4+ event is one of the toughest events to race in at Nationals (in my opinion). Head Coach Liz Trond and Steve Baranoski put together an incredible 4+ to race this challenging event. Coxswain, Allison Murray steered and instructed the boat down the course. Murray had her close friend, Kam Morgenstern in bow, Katie Estabrook in 2 seat, Ohio State commit Avril MacHale in 3 seat, and stroking the boat was Norah Surette. The crew finished 22nd in the country, ahead of local competitor, Row America Rye.

The club is so proud of all of the girls that raced at Nationals and the girls that stayed home and continued training. Summer Camps are running all summer long so don’t forget to sign up!

Congrats to the River Rats and to all crews at USRowing Nationals 2025!

After some pretty amazing years with these superstars, they are taking their last strokes as high schoolers on the Norwalk River. Their collegiate careers await them and we may be bias but we feel that these universities so incredibly lucky to have these girls join their programs in the Fall!

Avril MacHale turned in her Volleyball and joined the rowing community at CBC in the Fall of her senior year, her recruiting process with rowing was exciting. MacHale is committed to rowing at The Ohio State University where she will continue to develop and crush it. Reagan Weneck and Iso McCoy are setting their course to University of Michigan. These two besties are ready to represent the Big Blue and give the midwest a try.

Darien Captain, Sophie Bell is soon to be a Virginian as she relocates to wear orange at the University of Virginia! Similar to Bell, Westport Captain, Izzy Khamish will be proudly wearing orange as she will be a Princeton University Tiger in the Fall!

Baylor University has been awaiting Kate MacDonald’s graduation as she will join the family legacy down in Waco Texas. There is something so special about being part of a legacy and we are so happy that Kate’s dream came true. Fairfield’s very own, Lucia Noekker is joining many CBC alums wearing red and white at Indiana University! Not too far from Noekker, Gwyn Horn(Greenwich Academy) is joining Lafayette College. Sophia Dranand is going to be spending the next 4 years in New York at Colgate University. Dranand will have the incredible opportunity to row on this great team, coached by Jim Lister and we believe that she will continue to do amazing things!

Fili Keszti is signed sealed and (almost) delivered to head up North to Maine. Keszti has been accepted to be a part of the next class of Bobcats at Bates College. Watch out

International student-athletes alert!!! Wilton Senior, Charlotte Mickelborough is off to St. Andrews. As a duo citizen, Mickelborough is very excited to be spending an extended period of time in Scotland. St Andrews is Scotland’s first university founded in 1413 and the rowing program is coached by a former Olympian. Holly Hulme is off to Canada! As she heads west to The University of Calgary we will absolutely miss her tremendously but know what great things she will do.

The Class of 2025 is a crew of 12 amazing young women. They are respected, admired and loved by their peers! We will miss them so much but we look forward to the visits when they are home from break.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025!

The Saratoga Invitational regatta was a successful racing weekend for the Connecticut Boat Club girls ahead of their next major regatta, Northeast Regionals. The girls were all smiles embracing the sunshine, wind and rain. But of course, it isn’t too hard to do so when your coach spoils the whole team by treating to some delicious ice cream!

Saratoga Springs, NY turned its attention to our water based sport (instead of the horses) for this annual event. With a 6 lane course laid out, the CBC River Rats saddled up and let their blades do the talking…well other than their coxswains!

Below are the team results:

Yep, that is in fact a lot of hardware! What an incredible weekend for the team, many of the athletes raced in multiple events having the opportunity to showcase their skills. This team of champions works hard day in and day out.

Congratulations to this talented group of young women and the coaching staff!

Northeast Regionals will take place the weekend of May 16th, stay tuned for more on the CBC River Rats Spring 2025 season.

The CBC girls had one big slummer party in New Jersey this past weekend! For the novice team it was some of their first multi-day racing. The weather was perhaps not their favorite BUT the results made it all worth it.

The Novice squad proudly represented the club with the Novice A 8+ earning a silver medal in the first race of day on Saturday and the Novice B 8+ earning a gold medal in their category. In the Novice 4+ race the crew earned a silver medal, their second of medal of the day!

The Varsity squad took the stage next, on Saturday they finished in 2nd place with a time of 7:06. After huddling and reviewing film the crew raced the finals race on Sunday and gained some speed, finishing with a time of 7:01. CBC’s 2nd and 3rd Varsity 8+ finished in 4th place in their heats, behind Whitemarsh, Greenwich and Rye Rowing Clubs. As the girls jumped into smaller boats the 2V4x crews took the race course in two strong heats. Heat 1 with CBC’s A boat earned a first place finish, advancing to the grand final on Sunday. While Heat 2 with CBC’s 4x B boat finished in 4th place after a strong race down the course. In the 2V4x grand final CBC’s A boat fell 1 second short of earning a bronze medal, but boy did they race well!

Two podium finishes for the U17 crew! In two separate races, the U17 quads earned silver and bronze medals…it must be noted that it was .3 seconds shy of a gold medal. Don’t worry girls, next weekend gold is yours! In the U17 coxed four race the River Rats earned a silver medal behind Saugatuck’s crew. On Sunday the last of the U17 races took place in the 8+ and in CBC U17 fashion the girls emptied out their tanks and finished the weekend strong with a bronze medal!

Women’s Varsity 4x race was a great example of finding speed from the heat to the final. These fearless girls went from a 7:27 finish in their heat to a 7:23 in the final which translated to a bronze medal! One of the clubs favorite categories is the pair, this weekend there were two pairs representing the team. Both the CBC A pair and B pair finished first in their heats, congratulations girls!

Out in lane 6 with a comfortable lead over the majority of the pack, the 4- crew finished in second place in their race. In the teams last race of the day, the lightweight varsity double also earned a silver medal with a comfortable 7 second lead over Rye New York’s Crew.

Congratulations to all crews on a great racing weekend! Looking forward to seeing everyone this upcoming weekend in New York!

Connecticut Boat Club’s Captains are committed to rowing in their college years! Izzy Khamish (Staples High School), Iso McCoy (Brian McMahon High School) and Sophie Bell (Darien High School) are making big moves! As the girls get ready to embark on their next chapter of rowing, they will be joining three of the best rowing programs in the country. All three schools, Michigan University, University of Virginia and Princeton University are frequent homes for CBC alums. Connecticut Boat Club’s Head Coach, Liz Trond was sure to provide warm introductions to each captain and their respective school’s alums!

Iso McCoy originally was interested in pursuing her collegiate career in the city of Boston however, upon visiting Ann Arbor her mind and heart were convinced otherwise. “I loved the style of the University of Michigan campus, it was a true college town feel” McCoy expressed. Iso’s older brother (Leo McCoy) was instrumental in giving her advice, as he went through the process of selecting the best university for himself a few years ago. Leo advised his sister to not worry and that if it was meant to be, she would be accepted into Michigan University. Ken McCoy (Iso’s father) also played a key role in supporting Iso throughout her college selection process. Iso shared, “It was actually my dad who encouraged me at Nationals last year to attend the University of Michigan office hours. It was then when I met and instantly admired and wanted to be coached by the Michigan rowing staff. My dad loved our visit to the University of Michigan so much that who knows he might name a restaurant after them in the future!”

A lot of orange with an accent of blue, Sophie Bell will be continuing her rowing career at The University of Virginia! Joining a large rowing team can be a lot to take in but fortunately for Sophie she has a familiar face already on the UVA team. Bell was formally a ski racer and her then teammate (Isabella) also made the switch from skiing to rowing and is rowing for Virginia. Additionally, she found that during her official visit she had a lot of mutual friends with many of the girls on the team which made it feel comfortable and a place she could call home for Undergrad. As a dual citizen, Sophie always thought that she would follow in the footsteps of both of her older brothers by attend college in Canada. UVA’s gorgeous campus and wonderful community completely transformed the college image that Bell had in mind, she was determined to stay in America for her college years! Not to mention Coach Wes joining the coaching staff and them sharing the common trait of being Canadian rowers. “When I first met coach Wes I felt that we were very similar. I am incredibly interested in the mechanics of rowing (both the technique and the boats infrastructure) and I believe that he is as well. I am excited about how he goes about each practice and his mindset.” 

One Khamish sister is thriving at Duke University and the next is…going to Princeton University! Izzy Khamish can officially shout that she is going to Princeton, her dream school. In speaking with her she shared that she is most looking forward to joining the Tiger mentality of, ‘training to win’. This mantra is contagious and embodied from the coaching staff to every athlete on the team. Princeton University captured Khamish’s attention before even setting foot on the campus based on solely their academic reputation, however the rowing team puzzle piece was critical to her choosing to Early Decision at Princeton. Izzy shared with excitement,“The coaching is unparalleled, then I had the chance to attend a practice and I really liked seeing how the girls carried themselves on and off the water.” Katherine Garrett and Kelsey Reelick are two alumni names that we hear often as their legacy at CBC continues to live on. Izzy referenced both Garrett and Reelick as they are Princeton University alums whom she looks up to. “Kat Garrett was also a captain at CBC (as Izzy currently is) and is currently a captain at Princeton which makes her someone that I look up to. I have heard endless amounts of stories about her being a CBC legend and carrying that on to her collegiate rowing years from our coach Liz Trond. Then there is Kelsey Reelick who was part of the CBC Class of 2010, was unstoppable at Princeton and then went on to race for Team USA at the Olympics in 2024. I feel that I have two resources and fellow alumni that I can lean on at anytime!” Khamish’s parents have been supportive from the very start but there was one key family member that read Izzy’s mind and provided first hand experience. Her older sister, Mia Khamish (CBC Class of 2022) went through the D1 college rowing recruitment process a few years ago herself and was able to relate and give the best advice to Izzy. Izzy feels so fortunate to have had the support from her sister sharing that, “I couldn’t have gotten better advice than the advice Mia gave me. She and I are both coxswains and she knows me so well so she knew what I was feeling. It was really incredible to have someone there that had been through the exact same thing!”

It is with a lot of excitement that we are cheering for the continued success of our captains as they wrap up their senior years of high school and prep to move to new states! We are certain that they will succeed in everything they set their mind and hearts to do. 

Let’s Go Tigers! Let’s Go Blue! Let’s Go Hoos! 

Can we believe it is the end of the Fall 2024 season?! And what a season it has been for the Norwalk based River Rats! As the article title shares, the CBC Novice 8+ had an undefeated season which is so exciting for all of the girls. The Varsity girls improved so much throughout the season and rowed in new line ups/rowing hauls helping them have new experiences which they embraced to the fullest!

At the seasons last regatta The Head of the Fish, the temperatures could not have been better, allowing for the girls to have great conditions to show off their skills. In the singles race Sophie Bell placed 12th, Sophia Dranand 17th, Layla Sisca 11th in her U17 category, Kate McDonald 26th and Iso McCoy 27th. This was only the warm up event for the girls as they all raced in larger boat categories later in the day!

Overall it was an impressive day for CBC in all of the CBC sculling events. The middle school 4x placed second, U16 4x’s placed 3rd and 5th, the Varsity 4x earned a silver medal, the 2v4x placed 6th, V2x came in 7th and lastly the V4x+ brought home silver medal hardware!

In the sweeping boats CBC had even more show stopping results to round out the day. The V8+ earned a bronze medal, 2V8+ 6th place, U174+ bronze medal, V4+ had a strong 4th place finish, 2V4+ brought home smiles with their bronze medals, and the rest of the day was full of gold medals for the prestigious club. U168+, Novice 8+, U178+ and Novice 4’s brought home first and second place in their category!

Captain Sophie Bell shared her thoughts on the day, “The weather in Saratoga was stunning, but the wind kept us all on our toes. Still, the team’s spirit stayed high all weekend, pushing us through every stroke. That energy brought CBC an incredible first: winning four Fish Head trophies—a historic victory we’ll never forget. Closing out an incredible fall season, this final race was the perfect culmination of months of dedication and teamwork.”

CBC continues to be a team of champions! Ask about how to join the fun…we have some spots available!

Head of the Charles is one of the top 5 largest stages of the rowing world and Connecticut Boat Club raced four boats! On a very sunny/no wind/flat water October 20th the River Rats went out and bossed the course.

The CBC Coxed 1V 4x was steered by Senior Norwalk High School coxswain, AJ Kompiewska, Stroked by Sophia Dranchak, 3 seat Charlotte Mickelborough, 2 seat Iso McCoy and bow seat Kate McDonald. The crew started bow 9 and after a tough battle down the course finished in 25th place. Bow 1 crew Notre Dame RC had finished first last year and finished behind the CBC quad. Many of the crews from the back of the pack made their way to the top 15 places in this event this year!

At 9:02am CBC’s U17 8+ took on the course, finishing 3rd in their age category. The crew: coxswain Allison Murray, 8 seat Kam Morgenstern, 7 seat Olivia Macaluso, 6 seat Camilla Calderwood, 5 seat Norah Surette, 4 seat Katie Estabrook, 3 seat Leighton Busby, 2 seat Christina Charnin, and bow seat Sophia Kearns had a more challenging course. They found themselves in a tough spot on one of the turns that resulted in them stopping for a few strokes and picking up a 1 minute penalty. The crew was safe during the encounter with the other boat. Without the penalty the crew would have finished second in their age category which is a great statement to their fitness and how well the crew gelled together.

In the teams last event (the coxed four) two CBC boats represented the club. In this very competitive race, CBC’s 1V4+ went off the start line first (earning this spot from their gold medal finish last year) and the 2V4+ started in bow 20. In this 90 boat race a lot happened! The teams 1V4+  (Layla Sisca, Sophie Bell, Reagan Weneck, Filippa Keszti and coxswain Izzy Khamish) had a great race where they finished 15th overall. The 2V4+ (Winnie Wartels, Tanaya Dixit, Alexandra Maniatty, Holly Hulme and steered by coxswain Jiah Baak) finished with a strong 44th place out of the 90 boats!

This is always an adrenaline packed weekend in Boston, it truly is the Wild West out there with so many boats in each category and the course being as challenging as it is. CBC is already looking forward to next year’s Head of the Charles race and is wishing for as great of weather as this weekend!

October 14th and 15th will forever be two unforgettable days in the CBC history books. For those that don’t know, only 0.0000017% of the world’s population or roughly 1 in 500,000 people, ever make it to the Olympics. Connecticut Boat Club’s very own, Kelsey Reelick is one of those extremely rare people! The team Head Coach, Liz Trond is full of admiration and beyond proud of CBC Class of 2010 athlete, Kelsey Reelick. Which is why she wanted to give Reelick the center stage that she deserved post her great 5th place performance on the world’s largest stage, The Olympics!

Reelick grew up in Brookfield, Connecticut and commuted to Norwalk based rowing team, Connecticut Boat Club every day her senior year of high school with her sister, Erin Reelick. Legacy spells out CBC’s core values, and Reelick’s legacy is one that no one ever forgets but often are inspired by. The CBC river rats were thrilled to meet the famous Kelsey and prepared baked goods, drew pictures of Kelsey, had 2 hours worth of questions for her and dressed up in team colors each day to show their support and spirit.

‘There was never anything that we could have done in these two days to truly capture how special Kelsey is and what she means to Liz, myself and the foundation of what this teams core is/has always been’ shared Reelick’s CBC coxswain, Katherine Isaza. She continued, ‘Seeing Kelsey back at the boathouse 15 years later felt out of the norm but also felt like we were just here together 2 years ago. In spending time with her I quickly remembered the amazing person that she has always been and how she makes others around her better by just being her true authentic self.’

Senator Bob Duff is a champion of women in sports and when he learned about Kelsey’s incredible accomplishments at CBC, Princeton University, the United States National Team and now the USA Olympic team he was thrilled to meet her in person and present her with an award. The entire team was in attendance for the award ceremony in addition to our friends at News12, The Norwalk Hour, GameTime and the Stamford Advocate.

Kelsey was open and honest in her conversations with the press. Reelick’s interviews will be available via the news outlets listed above as early as tonight at 9:30pm on News12. It is an incredible opportunity to learn more about her, the sport, and the olympics!

Congratulations Kelsey! Connecticut Boat Club is so proud of you and has loved cheering you on for the past 15 years. Happy Retirement, you are a legend and your legacy will forever live on!

The Head of the Housatonic Regatta is one of the most beautiful Fall racing courses. Surrounded by the Fall Foliage on both sides, sunny and flat water racing conditions it is a rowers dream Sunday! The Connecticut Boat Club girls were in Derby Connecticut racing in both sweeping and skulling events.

Four CBC singles hit the water first thing in the morning. Two of the boats were River Rats whom hadn’t touched a single skull since this summer, let alone ever raced in one. Fun fact: it was all of the girls idea to enter the race! Being in a single is a different type of experience and it sounds like some of the girls really wanted to have that which the coaching staff at CBC completely supported. Similarly to last weekends race in New Jersey the U17 8+ raced in the 1V 8+ category at the Housatonic as well. The U17 girls had a great race but also a great learning experience! The 8+ placed 14th amongst other crews top high school seniors and juniors.

Kicking off the afternoon racing were three CBC Varsity quads. CBC A boat finished the race with a gold medal, winning time of 16:10. 7th and 8th places were claimed by CBC B and CBC C boats. With a very quick turn around after the quads race, it was time for many of the quads girls to jump into the coxed four race! The CBC 1V 4+ came back together after splitting into the A and B quads. Finishing with a time of 17:16 (12th place), the 2V 4+ finished with a time of 17:47 (17th place). A few events later, the Women 2V 4+ took on the course. CBC entered 3 boats, A boat: 5th place, B boat: 9th, C boat: 15th place.

In the last event of the day, the crowd went wild cheering for the Novice 8+ girls as they stormed by the tent area in the first 1000 meters of the race! It was Maddie Scholl and her novice rowers that took home the gold medal! Winning with a time of 16:34, second place finisher was Greenwich Crew with a time of 16:47 and bronze medalists were the Saugatuck Crew with a time of 16:58.

What a great finish to a wonderful all team racing day! The girls travel to Boston next to take on the World Famous, Head of the Charles Regatta on October 20th.

Norwalk based, Connecticut Boat Club girls only rowing team made a Fall racing schedule switch this year. Instead of attending the Head of the Riverfront in Hartford the team made a day trip down to New Jersey and competed at the Overpeck Fall Classic. This was the first all team regatta this Fall and the girls were ready to compete!

Head Coach Liz Trond entered two singles into the race on Sunday October 6th with team leaders, Sophie Bell and Sophia Dranchack. Earning her 3rd gold medal in the single this Fall season, Team Captain Sophie Bell came in first place. Sophia had a wonderful race and placed in 4th place against some great competitors. The regatta continued with more gold medals for the CBC girls in the Varsity quad race. Gold medalists in this boat that won by 15.8 seconds were Sophia Dranchack, Charlotte Mickelborough, Kate McDonald and Iso McCoy.

The 2nd Varsity quad had a total of 3 boat entries (7 total boats in the race) from CBC and no surprise, CBC swept the podium with the 3 boats that represented the team! In first place was Senior stroke Layla Morris, Lucia Noekker, Gwen Horn and Holly Hulme. Behind Morris’ boat by 1.4 seconds were silver medalists Winnie Wartels, Christina Charnin, Alex Maniatty and bow seat Tanaya Dixit. Rounding out the podium in this 7 boat race were Brooke LeBaron, Leighton Busby, Skye Coats and Noelle Basta.

Trond’s Varsity 4+ (Rowers: Layla Sisca, Sophie Bell, Reagan Weneck and Fili Keszti) was led by senior coxswain, Izzy Khamish. The crew raced this line up for the first time this season earning a Bronze medal in New Jersey behind Montclair A and B boats. Izzy Khamish’s younger sister, Mishi Khamish had her debut as a Novice coxswain in the Novice 8+ boat. Mishi led her crew to a 2 minutes and 30 second win over Montclair and City Island crews. These speedy novices where 8 seat, Camilla Calderwood, Olivia Macaluso (7 seat), Kate Surette (6 seat), Avril MacHale (5 seat), Kate Johnson (4 seat), Caroline Hendrickson (3 seat), Kirsten Borner and Gracie Mickels in bow pair.

CBC had two amazing coxed fours ready to race down the course in the second varsity four event. In first place 8.2 seconds ahead of Montclair A and C crews senior coxswain AJ led her boat to a victory. Kam Morgenstein, Norah Surette, Katie Estabrook and Sophia Kearns were the engine behind this boat! Finishing in fourth place was the teams B boat, coxed by Junior coxswain, Jiah Baak and rowed by Alex Maniatty, Tanaya Dixit, Gwen Horn and Holly Hulme. The Women’s Varsity 8+ was an exciting event where two CBC boats competed and earned podium finishes. AJ led her boat to a silver medal and Izzy led her boat to a bronze medal. AJ’s V8 finished 2 seconds behind first place finisher, Montclair and while Izzy’s U17 8+ finished 6 seconds off of Montclair and 4 seconds off of CBC’s A boat.

In the 2V 8+ event CBC entered another 2 boat scenario like in the 1V 8+ event where one boat was more experienced than the other boat. The older, more experienced crew proved to win again in this event. Junior coxswain Jiah and her crew earned their bronze medal passing several boats in their race and Freshman coxswain, Arwen and her boat mates finished in 4th place. Of note: Arwen and her crew are all U16 athletes!

Michigan commits, Reagan Weneck and Iso McCoy raced together in the 1V doubles event and earned 3rd place hardware to add to their collection! Wilton besties, Kate McDonald and Charlotte Mickelborough brought home gold medals in their 2V doubles race with their 1 minute and 37 seconds win over GMS Rowing. Novices: Mishi, Camilla, Olivia, Kate and Avril jumped back in a boat to round out the racing day for CBC in the Novice 4+ event and they took home another gold medal! In second place was the other half of the Novice 8+ (Kirsten, Kate, Gracie, Caroline) led by Novice coxswain Maddie.

What a spectacular start to the Fall racing season for the entire CBC Squad! Let’s do it again this weekend in our home state of Connecticut at the Head of the Housatonic!