Gayne Sears / SRRA President 2021
As newly elected President of SRRA I hope to help the club rebuild a viable and enjoyable Masters rowing season in 2021 as conditions permit. Unfortunately we will not be offering Learn to Row sessions this year. We are hopeful and are keeping in contact with Gonzaga rowing to share our interests and willingness to adapt. Please know that members are welcome and encouraged to attend our SRRA board meetings, as your Board is open to new ideas and we encourage active participation.
My rowing biography starts at University of California Davis in the mid 1980’s where I walked onto a small but mighty women’s club team and rowed starboard on every outing from then on. I made some of my best friend during that year on the freshman crew and keep in touch with them to this day. I skipped rowing the following year (needed to study harder), but I participated as the land coach and pushed my teammates to run the stairs faster and lift the weights harder. I rowed seven seat in the varsity eight the following year, with my favorite win a Head of the Sacramento 5000 meter race where we pounded our competitor by several boat lengths!
Twenty years later I took a weekend sculling class, five years after that I moved to the PNW and joined SRRA, where I increased my sculling, sweep, and coxing skills. I’m also a founding member (and President of the Board) of the Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association and am planning a rowing and paddling event on the Priest River for the summer of 2021.
I have rowed with international clubs in Scotland and Victoria BC and am enticed by rowing vacations across the world. I adore rowing, I adore the people who row and cox, and most of the time I adore the coaches :) JK. Rowing is my lifelong sport and I try to lure people into it wherever I go.
Your Other Board members for 2021 are:
Dennis- Vice President
Julie/Brandon Treasurer
Peggy – Secretary
Bob, Bruce, Marnie At Large