The Orcas Island Rowing Association is in full swing.

The team practices on Cascade Lake nearly every day from 6 to 7:30 a.m. With a team of 19 athletes, they are one of the smallest teams in the region. There are 11 varsity members: three-time captain Grace Thompson, captain Hannah North, captain Jacqlynn Zier, Tika Thorson, Huxley Smart, Jake Zier, Josh Bronn, Rhys Thompson, Max Blackadar, Yon Agnew and Robin Gropp. The eight new novice members are Bailey Johnson, Kya Blaustein-Salt, Jhuana Greene, Tamara Klein, Aubrey Piaget, Emily Diepenbrock, Zack Wolford and Garett Pietsch.

“We have a very young team this year, especially on the men’s side. But the potential is great,” said head coach Tina Brown. “I won’t be surprised if we see some exciting race results this season, but if it doesn’t happen this year, and they all stick with the sport, we definitely will be a force to reckoned with next year! Small but mighty.”

On March 6, OIRA held its 3rd Annual Alumni Regatta on Cascade Lake over their 1000-meter course. This race is specifically for fun only. The captains were in charge of putting the line-ups together and everyone got to participate.

Then the team traveled to Bainbridge Island the weekend of March 13 to compete in the first ever All-Island Regatta. The race took place on a 1000-meter course in Eagle Harbor (just south of the Bainbridge ferry terminal) where they raced against Bainbridge Island Rowing and Vashon Island Rowing Club. The two top races of the day were the Men’s Double (2x) of Jake Zier and Josh Bronn who won their race with a time of 3:24.4, and the Men’s Lightweight 2x of Rhys Thompson and Max Blackadar with a time of 3:38.8.

“It makes sense that we did well in the smaller boat races,” Brown said. “The other teams focus more on sweeping (rowing with one oar each) and the big boats (fours and eights), where we focus more on small boats and sculling (two oars each). But the opportunity to meet and compete with the other island clubs was well worth it for the kids. They stayed with Bainbridge host families and got to know the kids from the other teams, a valuable experience in and of itself. We’re hoping it becomes an annual event and possibly even rotate venues to each island.”

The team will travel next to Lake Stevens on April 10 for the Northwest Sculling Regatta.

The Orcas Island Rowing Team is coached by volunteer staff that includes co-founders Mike Reid and Dave Roseberry, Tina Brown, Craig Canine, Martin Taylor and alumnus Dave Noneman. OIRA is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. To learn more about the program, visit orcasislandrowing.org.