Cachuma Lake-based rowing program offering summer camps and Learn to Row programs
SANTA BARBARA — Santa Barbara Community Rowing’s junior racing team enjoyed a strong start to their 2025 spring racing season, finishing with notable wins at the President’s Day Invitational Regatta in Long Beach on Feb. 1.
Diego Stephenson, a Dunn school junior, brought home gold in the Youth Men’s Single, which is a testament to his hard work and focus, said Coach Gracie Barbara.
“He’s picked up a lot of speed this year,” Barbara said. “The youth category is tough and Diego has been putting in extra work outside of our scheduled practice, and it’s great to see it showing in his results. We’re all really happy for him and excited to see what he can do the rest of the season.”
SBCR’s Jacie Dingman, a Santa Ynez High School freshman, came home with gold, winning the U17 Women’s Single.
And then Dingman and her longtime doubles partner, Elsa Loya (homeschooled and Classical Resource Learning Center junior) added another gold medal to the tally for SBCR, winning the Youth Women’s Double.
Dingman and Loya finished seventh in the nation at the 29th Annual USRowing Youth National Championships in Florida last year, and appear to be on track to reprise another successful racing season this year.
Equally as exciting was the debut race for SBCRs five new novice rowers, who took silver in Men’s U15 Quad. They include brothers William and Campbell Allen, (Goleta Valley Junior High), John Asher (Laguna Blanca), Finn McCauley (Montecito Academy), and Aidan Chase (Montecito Academy).
As Barbara said, “Their success is noteworthy because this is the first time these kids have raced together in this lineup, and it can be intimidating, especially when their average age is 2 years younger than their competitors. These are 12- and 13-year-olds going up against some 13- and 14-year-olds, which is tough. But they worked together and came away with a terrific result. And I hope it inspires other kids to join their ranks.”
“We are still a small team and we are always looking for more middle and high schoolers,” Barbara continued.”Rowing is still relatively unknown in Santa Barbara County, but it’s a great community; we row on a beautiful lake;and our kids are fast. What more do you need? And a lot of these kids will go on to row in college, so it’ll be fun to see what the future holds for them.
“There’s a lot of potential here to build a bigger, top-tier junior team, and I’d love to see our program grow to 20 or 30 kids out on the water all together.”
Barbara herself rowed in high school and college and knows that rowers are admired for their discipline, work ethic, and leadership skills.
Santa Barbara Community Rowing is the only rowing organization in Santa Barbara County, based at Cachuma Lake. If you are interested in donating to the club, or learning more about rowing, SBCR offers summer camps for youth ages 11 and over, as well as Learn to Row programs throughout the year for adults and kids. For more information visit rowsbc.org
