Newport Youth Rowers Win 3rd National Championship in 4 Years

Parker Johnson has never lost a men's youth 4+ rowing race for Newport Sea Base, and he wasn't about to start at nationals.

The recent high school graduate and his four teammates won gold at the USRowing Youth National Championships in Florida on June 14, crossing the 2,000-meter finish line in 6 minutes and 36.18 seconds. It marks the third national championship for Newport Sea Base since 2022, all won in even years.

"When we were racing, it was more of a feeling of, 'We've put in enough practice, enough work and enough conditioning over the season that I have confidence that we're going to go get the results that we want,'" said Johnson, who's headed to Harvard University.

The winning boat included Johnson, Troy Soltesz, Shayne Centra, Linus Depiereux, and coxswain Devyn Costello. Johnson had also been part of the 2024 championship crew, but the rest of the lineup changed dramatically this year.

Coach James Long-Lerno spent weeks selecting the final crew through seat races. Half the boat that won at Southwest Youth Championships got swapped out before nationals, yet the new combination still executed perfectly.

For Centra, a Corona del Mar graduate bound for the University of Massachusetts, it was his first championship medal. Costello is headed to St. Mary's women's rowing program, while Depiereux still has two years of high school left at Newport Harbor.

The Ripple Effect

Newport Sea Base qualified 60 athletes for youth nationals this year, the most in program history. Their women's U16 4x+ boat won silver, finishing just under one second behind first place despite challenging weather that nullified two of their races.

Newport Aquatic Center, another local program, also brought home two silver medals in the men's U17 4+ and women's U17 8+ boats. Coach Marcell Stiffey praised his athletes for embracing every aspect of training and delivering when it mattered most.

These young rowers, ranging from 13 to 18 years old, are now headed to colleges across the country, from Gonzaga to Harvard. Their success shows what happens when talented athletes trust the process and each other.