Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Members of the world championship Los Gatos Rowing Club pose after a sensational performance at the Nike World Masters Games. Team members include (front row, l-r) Ans Bekkers, coxswain Gillian Tyndall, coxswain Cathy Wooten and David Leverenz; and (back row, l-r) Stephen Bartlett, Melissa Harper, Robert Conn, David Ehrhardt, Dorothy Young and Phyllis Carlson. Not pictured are Charlie Andrews and Art Monk.

Rowers are world champions

Los Gatos Rowing Club strikes gold at World Masters Games

By Dick Sparrer

Arson was the cause of a fire that destroyed the Los Gatos Rowing Club's boathouse...

Wait a minute, that's yesterday's news.

The Los Gatos Rowing Club has better news than that these days. The club recently pulled in six medals at the Nike World Masters Games held in Portland, Ore., Aug. 11-15.

The rowers won medals in each event they entered in the masters competition, claiming four gold, one silver and one bronze in the rugged event that included former Olympic champions.

"We're no longer known as the club that just struggles to overcome the disaster of an arson fire that destroyed our boathouse," said club president Jack Van Nada, referring to the devastating fire in 1994. "We're now an organization that houses and trains world-class masters champions."

Despite competition from former Olympic medalists from around the world and national elite rowers, the Los Gatos Rowing Club won gold medals in men's lightweight single class B, women's four with coxswain class D, mixed eight with coxswain class D and men's indoor age 60 and over.

Gatos picked up a silver medal in the men's four with coxswain class E, and added a bronze in men's single class D.

"We are very proud of their achievement," Van Nada said, "particularly in the light of the ex-Olympic and national level competition."

Charlie Andrews, a former national and collegiate champion, struck gold in the men's lightweight single class B division (ages 36-43).

The women's four class D title (ages 50-54) was won by Ans Bekkers, Melissa Harper, Dorothy Young and Phyllis Carlson, with Cathy Wooten the coxswain. And the group won the world championship after rowing for just three years.

"These remarkable women are experiencing international competition for the first time less than two years after their first racing season, and responding with success," said women's masters coach Kevin Scully.

The four--Bekkers, Harper, Young and Carlson--teamed with David Leverenz, Robert Conn, David Ehrhardt and Stephen Bartlett and coxswain Gillian Tyndall to win gold in the mixed eight class D (ages 50-54) division.

Ehrhardt came back to win gold on his own in the 60-and-over men's indoor rowing competition.

Leverenz, Conn, Ehrhardt and Bartlett teamed with coxswain Tyndall to claim a silver medal in the men's four boat.

"This is an important win for the men because just two years ago they were placing fourth, fifth and sixth in local regattas," said men's masters coach Cymber Brandis. "They've worked incredibly hard to develop the teammanship that places them among the top rowers in the world."

They also have the experience, though. While Bartlett has been rowing only a few years, the other three raced in their collegiate days at Harvard, Purdue and UC-Berkeley.

Art Monk of Saratoga joined the list of Los Gatos Rowing Club placers at the Nike Games with a third in the men's single class D division (ages 50-54) to bring home a bronze medal.

Rowing is just one of the many events contested in the Nike World Masters Games, held every four years like the Olympic Games. The Masters Games are open to all competitors, from past champions to athletes who have never competed at the elite level.

The first Masters Games were held in 1985 in Toronto, with subsequent events held in 1989 in Denmark, 1994 in Australia and 1998 in Portland. The next event is to be held in 2002 in Melbourne, Australia.

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