The Harbor Report: Rowing into champion status

By Len Bose

January 23, 2015 | 2:52 p.m.

While moving around the harbor the other day, I noticed all the different college alumni flags flying from homes and boats and the different stickers on cars passing by.

I started to wonder: What is our harbor's home team, the team we can all get behind and take pride in?

Later, while driving over Pacific Coast Highway and onto Lido Peninsula, I looked down the harbor and noticed the Orange Coast College rowing team working out on its eight-man rowing shells. Right then I said that's our team.

The first intercollegiate event held in the United States was a rowing race between Yale and Harvard on Lake Winnipesaukee, in New Hampshire. The tradition is still held on the Thames River in New London, Conn.

The OCC men's crew team, founded in 1953, is the only community college crew team in the country. Review the team's history, and two names — Dave Grant and Jim "Jorgo" Jorgensen — jump out. Both have a long history with the school and our harbor.

OCC's crew won its first Freshman National Championships in 1980 and has gone on to win five more. In 1985, the team traveled to China to compete and has produced seven Olympic medal winners along with three world champions. OCC also has an outstanding women's crew team, which will be another story in the future.

Paul Prioleau has been the head coach of the OCC men's program since 2011, and I had a chance to catch up with him for an interview over the phone. The men's team consists of 52 members — 46 oarsman and six coxswain. Eighteen members of the team are second-year rowers, with nine having had experience before starting their first year. Most kids start rowing as freshmen in college.

To try out for the team, you have to be a full-time student at OCC with at least a 2.0 grade point average. The ideal height of an oarsman is 6-foot-4 and weight is 195 pounds. Because the sport is based on physical endurance, triathletes and people who have competed in swimming or water polo are the most sought-after by the coaches.

Of course, there is always room for a "Rudy." That's the person who has harbored dreams of rowing at OCC, and nothing is going to keep him from the dream. In fact, last year's team had two members under 6 feet — 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-9, respectively. This time of year, practice is Mondays through Saturdays from 6 to 8:30 a.m., along with an afternoon workout each day.

"Crew requires a high amount of dedication and commitment," Prioleau said. "It's a lot of hard work, and the satisfaction you get is working hard at teamwork and camaraderie as a team. It teaches kids how to work hard and be persistent."

The local regattas in Newport Harbor start March 14 with a dual match with UC Irvine and continue March 21 with a dual with UCLA. On April 12, Chapman University will host a regatta, and on May 9, the 49th annual Newport Regatta will take place. All regattas start at 7 a.m. and are raced down the North Lido Channel.

I asked Prioleau what's fun about being a crew coach, and this is what he said: "You get a huge amount of satisfaction from watching the students with little direction at the time. You grab them and bring them down to the boat house, and they get hooked on the sport. They really turn to driven, dedicated students, athletes and they suddenly get a new purpose in life."

He explained that parents often tell him, "We have never seen our kid get up voluntarily out of bed before 7 a.m., and now he is getting his homework done and getting to bed by 9:30 p.m. because he has crew in the morning at 5:30 a.m. How did you do that?"

OCC's team name is the Pirates. When reviewing the history of the team, I noticed the term "Pirates System." I asked the coach what that stands for. "Hard work and persistence is rewarded," he said. "We live and die for the team."

You can follow our harbor's team on Facebook under OCC Crew and visit its website, occpirateathletics.com.

The school has been blessed with donors and is always looking for further donations. In fact, there is a rather unique opportunity to supply the school with a new electric coach boat. How cool that would be to see your family name zip up and down the harbor for the next 20 years.

I have attached the team's roster on my blog site at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com along with a couple other donation ideas. I also wanted to give a big shout-out to Jorgensen, my OCC sailing team coach, who gave me my first break on the harbor.

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Orange Coast College Men's Crew
Jan. 2015
LNAME	FNAME	Year	City	State
Atkeson	Logan	Novice	Huntington Beach	CA
Azadi	Aria	Novice	Newport Beach	CA
Ballard	Robert	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Berasaluce	Mikel	Novice	Spain
Borth	Craig	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Carrano	Rodrigo	Novice	Brazil
Carter	Logan	Novice	Long Beach	CA
Cocotis	Andrew	Varsity	Huntington Beach	CA
Cole	Weston	Novice	Los Alamitos	CA
Coultrup	Grant	Varsity	Huntington Beach	CA
Cully	Anthony	Varsity	Yorba Linda	CA
Darval-Chang	Jace	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Flotron	Makenna	Novice	Newport Beach	CA
Gentry	Sevin	Novice	Newport Beach	CA
Goodman	Dylan	Varsity	Fountain Valley	CA
Guedes	Francesca	Varsity	Irvine	CA
Hadden	Maxwell	Novice	Fountain Valley	CA
Harbutt	Claire	Novice	Venice	CA
Harrigan	Alexandra	Novice	San Clemente	CA
Harris	Michael	Varsity	Gold River	CA
Heieck	Devon	Novice	San Carlos	CA
Hernandez	Ryan	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Ianitchii	Andrei	Novice	Irvine	CA
Inserra	Nick	Varsity	Irvine	CA
Jenkins	Alexander	Novice	Laguna Beach	CA
Kent	Sierra	Novice	Palos Verdes Estates	CA
Kessloff	Chad	Novice	Cypress	CA
Kobel	Connor	Varsity	Huntington Beach	CA
Kolling	Ryan	Varsity	Newport Beach	CA
Kouyoumdjian	Matthew	Varsity	Costa Mesa	CA
Kunbargi	Ameen	Novice	Irvine	CA
Mcnamara	Daniel	Varsity	El Dorado Hills	CA
Mendez	Ivan	Novice	Santa Ana	CA
Morton	Garinn	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Robello	Jesse	Varsity	Honolulu	HI
Rosenau	Mason	Varsity	Santa Ana	CA
Rubio	Nicholas	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Russell	Michael	Varsity	San Diego	CA
Salvio	Lorenzo	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
San Filippo	Carly	Varsity	Yorba Linda	CA
Schmeding	Elizabeth	Novice	Costa Mesa	CA
Severtsen	Aaron	Novice	Santa Ana	CA
Sowles	Charles	Novice	West Hollywood	CA
Studer	Jacob	Novice	Los Alamitos	CA
Tortes	Dominik	Novice	Newport Beach	CA
Ulicki	David	Novice	Anaheim	CA
Williams	Benjamin	Varsity	Costa Mesa	CA
Wills-King	Joshua	Novice	Newport Beach	CA
Wray	Chase	Novice	Belvedere Tiburon	CA
Wright	Ian	Varsity	San Juan Capistrano	CA
Yanovskiy	Maxim	Novice	Moscow, Russia
Zinovyev	Arnold	Varsity	Huntington Beach	CA

In regards to donations for the Buc's: You can sign up for any type of donation from handing over five dollars to purchasing four man rowing scows, which the team needs.

I left out how you can starting rowing before college. NAC is your best bet, you will find a team in Long Beach and the Sea Scouts Base have a new program running that is said to become very strong.

"If you know in your own heart you are to be something, you will be it... Do not permit your mind to think otherwise.  It is fatal."   Gen. George Patton



CHECK out some of the comments I received:

Hi Len,

I enjoyed reading The Harbor Report  -  Rowing into champion status.
Thank you for the shout out, however you earned your first break on the harbor and have not looked back.
Congratulations on pursuing your life's passion (calling) to the fullest. Newport is a better place from your 
curiosity, persistence and consistent reporting. 
Continue to make your life a masterpiece my friend.

Best,
Jim


HI LEN , Just read your article about the OCC CREW. I was so happy to see crew, any crew, get some press! I used to HOUND Steve Virgin to write about all of the NAC boys winning gold and State and NATIONALS when my son was there. Now my son is on CAL CREW, one of the most competitive along with UW. I have to say, crew teaches these boys
Integrity, manners, great sportsmanship, and above all of that,
Drive and accountability! I watched my little boy go from a bit shy and unsure of himself (as with many teens) to an amazing leader and driven to succeed in every area of his life!! I credit much of this to Nick D'Antoni, a brilliant coach at NAC! He had just the right balance of structure, discipline, and a great motivator. So, here's the 4 rules of crew:
#1: SHOW UP!! Forget the other three! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ "BOYS IN THE BOAT" ITS JUST THE BEST STORY OF THE WASHINGTON-CAL DUELS. STILL ONGOING TO THIS DAY! SO. "GO BEARS"
Sorry this is soooo long, but these boys work so hard every day, sometimes 6 hours a day and deserve recognition. Thanks for your great article!! Row Fast - Row Hard!
Patti Delahanty BCYC.