Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Coach Skip Braatz encourages rowers on Lexington Reservoir to keep going.
Rowing Club members paddle toward Oregon
By Nathan R. Huff
Los Gatos Rowing Club members on Feb. 20 will row-row-row their boats as far as Oregon in the fifth annual Row-A-Thon fundraiser, now called the RAT Race, in Los Gatos Town Plaza.
For those who participate in the Great Race from Saratoga to Los Gatos earlier in the day, it will be an opportunity to relax and watch others burn calories.
More than 25 adult and high-school rowers will row on rowing machines. Their total combined distance--measured by the machines' ergometers--will equal a trip from Los Gatos to Portland. Last year's Row-A-Thon raised almost $30,000 to help purchase equipment and provide scholarships.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Teams carry their own skulls down the launch to the water at Lexington Reservoir.
The rowing club has 136 high-school students from nearly two dozen area schools, including Los Gatos and Saratoga. The athletes compete in a variety of four-man and eight-man events on novice and varsity levels.
Last year, the club qualified 23 teens for the national championships and took home its first gold medal. Numerous club alumni have gone on to row for Harvard and Princeton universities and other top rowing schools.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
At day's end, rowers carry their equipment back.
The rowers have their sights on scholarships for those who want to participate, but can't afford the all-inclusive fee for club members is $900 a year, which covers coaching stipends, travel, hotels, food and equipment.
"We row five days a week," said Head Coach Skip Braatz, who began the club in 1978. "Once you're going to get into it, you have to commit."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Carla Grazios, 18, of Saratoga, is her team's coxwain, or steerperson.
This year, the Los Gatos Rowing Club experienced an increase in membership of more than 50 percent. This only made the club's opening week of practice even more difficult, as they had to haul 150 people and seven trailers up to Redwood City Harbor. "It was unprecedented in the club's history," said Braatz, who has also been involved in rowing clubs in Buffalo, N.Y., and at Santa Clara University.
The team usually practices at Lexington Reservoir, but Braatz said the low water level made it impossible. However, recent rains have upped Lexington's water level, and Braatz said the team was now back to practicing in Los Gatos.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
