Fast. Unpredictable. Intense.
That’s rowing.
There is no shortage of adrenaline-fueled adjectives to describe the newest sport to come to the waterways of Long Beach. The public will get a chance to see the action firsthand when the Long Beach Rowing Association hosts a Rowing Coastal Beach Sprints competition on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 10:30 a.m. to12:30 p.m.
The sprints will take place in the Marine Stadium and will feature one- and two-person crews sprinting across the sand to their boats, rowing 250 meters around two buoys, returning to the sand for a dash to the finish.
Rowing Coastal Beach Sprints are one of the new sports added to the Olympics and will be staged at the Belmont Shore beach venue in Long Beach in 2028.
“It’s a gladiator-style boat race,” said Maurice Scott, who will be competing in the Saturday event and hopes to be named to the 2028 Olympic team. “The unpredictability of sprints makes it especially exciting. Anything can happen at any moment. Being an athlete is one thing, but being able to adapt to quickly changing conditions will be critical to the rowers’ success.”
The competition is part of a weekend of rowing in Alamitos Bay.
On Sunday, the Long Beach Rowing Association’s annual Christmas Regatta kicks off at 7:30 a.m. and runs until sunset. There will be up to seven boats going up the course every five minutes from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Long Beach Rowing Association held its 57th annual Christmas regatta on Sunday, Dec. 8. (Photo courtesy of LBRA)
A group of Long Beach Rowing Association members are ready to row in the Christmas Regatta. (Photo by Hanne Chupik)
The Long Beach Rowing Association held its 57th annual Christmas regatta on Sunday, Dec. 8. (Photo courtesy of LBRA)
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The Long Beach Rowing Association held its 57th annual Christmas regatta on Sunday, Dec. 8. (Photo courtesy of LBRA)
Now in its 58th year, the regatta draws rowers of all ages from throughout the western United States.
Rowers participate in boats ranging from single shells to “eights,” which are the longest boats on the course and made popular by the book and the recent movie, “The Boys in the Boat.”
“We have definitely seen an increased interest in the regatta this year,” said Hanne Chupik, president of the Long Beach Rowing Association. “Our races have filled up sooner than in the past.”
Marine Stadium is an ideal place for watching the competition, said Chupik, who recommends either the park beside Boathouse Lane or the beach off Paoli Way for viewing.
Like drag racers, crews start at the eastern end of the waterway, just off the rowing association’s boathouse. Lined up in seven lanes, they power down the course for 850 meters and finish near the construction site for the Open Channel to the Colorado Lagoon.
In keeping with the spirit of the season, crews are encouraged to dress for the occasion, and it is not unusual to see elves, Santas, grinches, even Whos from Whoville on the waterway.
The volunteer-run regatta serves as a fund raiser for the Long Beach Rowing Association, which serves the community through athletic programs ranging from adaptive rowing for those with disabilities and its annual Learn to Row summer event.
Bay Barge
At last Thursday’s Marine Advisory Commission, David Sall, Deputy Director and Chief Operations Officer of the Conservation Corps of Long Beach, showcased the corps’ work in environmental stewardship.
Prior to his presentation, he mentioned to me — in the small world department — that his mom Brenda Jacobs had volunteered the previous weekend on Alamitos Bay YC’s bay barge, for a regatta in the Alamitos Bay turning Basin, with my husband, David Murray.
This weekend, for ABYC’s Turkey Regatta, as many as 17 classes will be inside the bay and a potential for 25 outside, with 117 boats registered at press time.
John Gresham will be the Principal Race Officer (PRO) inside the bay, with operations on that popular bay barge.
Gresham understands the boats that will be racing in the bay at a more complex level than most.
“Gresham Marine is operated out of Long Beach and John Gresham builds custom racing boat parts for most every type of boat that’s raced in Alamitos Bay,” said Will Gresham, John’ son. “The process is really interesting — he’s created custom templates and materials to build super light and strong parts that replace stock parts including rudders, centerboards, tillers etc.”
More small world: I met John Gresham more than 30 years ago at a Make a Difference Day. He led a team of corporate volunteers that transformed a ramshackle Long Beach home of a disabled senior citizen into a tidy safe home.
We trimmed trees, built a fence, recarpeted, and painted the entire interior. Everyone but Gresham was untrained and lacked any of the skills needed to repair decades of neglect. He took a group of us “Bad News Bears” and coached us on each of the tasks — resulting in enhancing the quality of life of the homeowner.
I know John will bring his passion for doing things right — along with his race management skills to this years Turkey Regatta — making it a success.
An added benefit for those who didn’t brave the long lines at Brother’s Keeper BBQ pop up on Fourth Street last weekend: Brother’s Keeper will be smoking all the turkeys on site for ABYC’s Saturday dinner served after racing.
Slow delivery
Retired travel agent Shawn Dake recently acquired some steamship memorabilia including postcards from a fellow collector. As he was cataloging them, he came across a card from the P & O ship Canberra that was addressed to me. It was dated January of 1992, complete with a Mexican stamp.
But it was never mailed.
I now have the collectable card of a ship (which was scrapped in 1998) that took 33 years to be delivered.
The collection Shawn acquired had belonged to Richard Villa, who in 1974 held the record of 1,200 paid tourist visits on board the Queen Mary.
Shawn became a Queen Mary tour guide in 1973. His motivation was he didn’t want to work in a burger joint.
As a result of working on the ship, he pursued a career in travel and a hobby of collecting ship memorabilia. His knowledge is so vast that Princess Cruises commissioned him to write their history book.
Shawn Dake and his wife Caroline visit Knott’s Berry Farm almost daily, further proof of his passion for tourism.