Rowers come home with medals
OAKLAND, Calif. — Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association members Sean Halberg and Ivana Bacanovic raced in the USRowing Masters National Championship on Lake Merritt on Aug. 17-19.
Bacanovic and Halberg raced together in the Mixed C 2x (ages 43-49), finishing second out of 19 other teams to open the first day of competition.
The pair met at a rowing competition last year and Bacanovic, a resident of Vienna, Austria, traveled to Port Angeles this summer.
“We both rowed in the World Rowing Master’s Championship in Slovenia,” Halberg said. “She wanted to come to the USA and this race coincided with her trip.”
Halberg said Bacanovic helped coach at the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association’s youth camp earlier this summer.
In solo events, Halberg placed fourth in the Mens C 1x on the opening night of the regatta,
On Saturday, Bacanovic and Halberg paired up again and raced in a younger age group, the Mixed B 2x (ages 36-42), coming in third.
On Sunday, Halberg competed in the Mens B 1x, earning his third medal of the regatta, a bronze.
Links to videos of each of the events are available on the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PArowing.
Halberg will next compete in the World Rowing Coastal Championships in Sidney, B.C. Oct. 11-14. Coastal Rowing takes place in the coastal environment and racers must account for wind, waves and current. The races also vary in length from 2- to 5-kilometers.
The Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association is actively seeking new members, whether they would like to compete or row recreationally.
For more information, visit the association’s Facebook page or call coach Debby Swinford at 360-460-7396.
Palmer Classic
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend High School will hold the annual Andy Palmer Kickoff Classic during the Redhawks football game against Kingston at Memorial Field at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Palmer, a 2008 Port Townsend graduate and four-year football letter winner, was killed while working as a wildland firefighter in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California on July 25, 2008.
A scholarship was established in his name to honor a Port Townsend High School graduating senior who has worked hard to develop a “culture of kindness” at the high school. Gate receipts from the game will be donated to the scholarship fund.
Palmer’s scholarship has been established to recognize the personal characteristics of kindness, loyalty, integrity and humility. Two awards are made each year: one in Port Townsend and one in Port Angeles, both hometowns of Andy’s family.
Contributions can be made through the purchase of T-shirts or mailed to the Port Townsend Scholarship Foundation, 538 Calhoun St, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
Peninsula Daily News
