Three Kirkland high school athletes helped Sammamish Rowing to a fifth and sixth place finish, while a third team finished fourth, during the US Rowing Youth National Championships June 12-14 in Sarasota, Fla.

Sammamish Rowing was part of 1,500 high school athletes from 150 clubs across the nation that competed at Nathan-Benderson Park, a new Olympic-class rowing venue. Many of the seniors missed graduation in order to compete at nationals. Sammamish Rowing Association’s Competitive Junior Program had an incredibly strong showing with all three of their boats rowing their hearts out all weekend over 2-3 heats and semifinals each to earn a spot in their respective grand finals.

The final race of the regatta was the Men’s Youth eight-plus grand final. The Sammamish Varsity Men’s eight-plus, featuring Juanita High School senior Josh Warnick flew down the course in a very tight race, setting a Sammamish speed record and finished fifth. The team was 1.5 seconds off fourth place and only 6.5 seconds behind Oakland Strokes from California who took gold.

The Men’s Lightweight Youth eight-plus, featuring Lake Washington High School junior Geiger Swanson and Cambridge Juanita High School freshman Wynn Wee, helped the Sammamish team finish sixth during the grand final with a time of 6-minutes, 17.13-seconds behind Norcal, Belen Jesuit, Marin, Long Beach and Boston’s CRI crews. The team was the only boat in their event to make the grand final after making a comeback in the repecharges, a second chance heat for those boats that didn’t initially qualify for the semi-final.