NorCal goes international

“I want to push the 8s for a couple of reasons,” said John Kaitz, Nor Cal head coach for the U17 and U19 boys’ teams. “It marks the status of your program. … It’s a measure of your program’s success. … The premiere event is the 8s. It tells what level program you have. … College coaches are looking at 8s.”

Kaitz, who coached at University of Southern California and UC Santa Barbara and spent time overseas, took over the NorCal high school program in August 2024 and last month, led the Nor Cal 8s boat to the program’s first-ever race at the Royal Henley Regatta on the River Thames in Henley-on-Thames, England — the most prestigious regatta in the world, which was first held in 1839.

In the world of crew, it doesn’t get bigger than the Royal Henley Regatta. It’s the highlight of the English social calendar, where poise, decorum and style are prioritized. Getting a chance to compete in the Royal Henley Regatta can be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

“It’s a bucket-list item,” Kaitz said.

And the team that competed in the U19 Princess Elizabeth Cup, comprised of Peninsula athletes — Henry Allison, Matias Bliss-Carascosa, Nick Brown, Emmett Hoffman, Peter Fetter, Huck Jagerson, coxswain Yoonu Park, Henry Pecore and Nigel Root — acquitted themselves well in a format with which they were not familiar before reaching England.

First, the races are head-to-head; winner advances, loser is out. In most other competitions, there are as many as six teams lined up for a race, with several teams advancing to the next round.

Second, the event is held in live water. Many in the NorCal boat had never rowed in an actual river. Most events are held in man-made lakes specifically designed for rowing, or in dam-created lakes in which water flow is controlled.

On the Thames, the NorCal crew were contending with shifting tides, shifting wind and shifting weather conditions, which then changed the water conditions.

Third, the race is non-standard distance. In all other instances, races are 2,000 meters. At the Royal Henley, an extra 112 meters are added, which Kaitz said adds about 15 seconds to race times.

Why an extra 100-plus meters? Kaitz said it was because it was the longest stretch of straight river in the area and before standard distances were set.

The NorCal team won its first race against Bryanston, which Kaitz said drew praise from the announcer.

“We were really happy after our first race. We were still an unknown,” Kaitz said. “That first race, we took off and doored (blew the doors off) our opponent.”

In the second round, NorCal went up against Shiplake College, which is basically an English high school in which crew is part of the curriculum. Many of the crews participating came from similar situations.

Shiplake would beat NorCal and would go on to win the U19 championship.

“This was match racing. Your blades are 10, 15 feet apart,” Kaitz said. “It’s almost like wrestling out there. You can hear the guys breathing (next to you). There’s nothing like it. It’s very personal.”

The Royal Henley, however, was simply the culmination of a wild ride the NorCal 8s crew has been on for the last year. The NorCal guys certainly had to deal with some trials, tribulations and adversity to get to England.

It really would make a fascinating movie.

A new coach, a new goal

When Kaitz took over the high school program at NorCal, he wanted to invest time and effort in the 8s, especially. A former coach at rival Marin Rowing Association, Kaitz was familiar with NorCal’s rise over the years, so he knew there was talent in the program.

He immediately put together his boat, “They showed themselves pretty quickly,” Kaitz said, and prepped for the 2024 Head of the Charles Regatta in October. The Boston-based event is arguably the biggest regatta in the United States.

NorCal finished seventh and that planted the seed for the Royal Henley in Kaitz’s mind.

“The Head of the Charles, we put ourselves on the map,” Kaitz said. “That led to the Henley idea.”

He presented his idea to both the team and their parents, but there was a slight catch: half of the members of the boat had earned invitations to compete for Team USA at the U19 world championships, which took place earlier this month in Trakai, Lithuania.

While the timeline could have worked to participate in both, USA Rowing wanted a decision by the end of February.

At that point in time, Kaitz wasn’t even sure if his team could even get to England. There is no qualifying for the Royal Henley. Teams participate by invitation only. You have to put together results, you have to be fast, you have to look good while being fast and you have to know people.

Kaitz had two of the three: he knew his boat was fast and he knew people. Now they just needed the results — and for the guys who were selected for the world championships to want to go to England, instead.

Which is what they chose.

“That’s a tough call for a high school kid to make,” Kaitz said. “About three days before the (USA Rowing) deadline, they said they wanted to do the Henley.

“I asked them why and they said they wanted to row with their guys one more time. They have rowed together for four years.”

Getting the results

Now the NorCal crew went about getting the results needed to earn an invite. He reached out to the US rowing liaison in England, Jamie Koven, to let him know that NorCal would be attempting to earn a bid and sent him all of NorCal statistics.

“He decides if you qualify,” Kaitz said.

It was hard to keep NorCal out. It won the Newport regatta in Southern California and finished second to Marin at the San Diego regatta.

“If we’re close to Marin, we’re good enough to go (to Henley),” Kaitz said. “That was the race that kind of sealed the deal, that got us to Henley. (Henley organizers) want to see progression in speed and quality of stroke. They want a quality product out there.

“They don’t want hacks.”

Ride to England gets bumpy

And then it almost all came tumbling down.

NorCal needed to get through the regional and into the national championships to burnish its Henley resume and were well on their way to doing so, advancing to the regional final.

“We were going super fast,” Kaitz said. “They were flying.”

But an injury and an improper ruling by an official almost cost NorCal everything. First, Hoffman injured his back during warmups. Kaitz said the normal protocol is to delay the start of the race, so the team can find a replacement rower and have him properly prepare for the race.

Instead, Kaitz said the official lined up all six boats, fired the starting gun and the team’s were off — including NorCal, with just seven rowers in the boat.

NorCal finished last and Kaitz said the Henley dream was quickly turning into a nightmare.

“I thought that Henley is gone,” Kaitz said. “We had these kids primed to go to Henley and this referee screws us out of it? I felt so bad for them.”

But with the support of every club in the final, including rival Marin, NorCal protested the referee’s ruling and won, earning a spot in the national championships, where NorCal would go on to finish eighth.

“I wrote to [Koven] about it (the incident),” Kaitz said. “And he said, ‘The whole (crew) world has heard it.’”

An experience of a lifetime

And with that performance at the US Nationals, the NorCal 8s had earned their invitation to the Royal Henley Regatta. The rowers only got to race twice before being eliminated, but that at the point, the party was just beginning.

“When we finally got the invitation, I think my blood pressure went down. I was so worried for the kids,” Kaitz said. We had a blast (after losing). They’re pretty tight. It was really neat getting to work with those guys and their parents.

“The parents loved the idea (of going to England). I think it was more about the kids staying together one more time before heading off to college.”