Strong Women

ROWING

-- Staff report

(Updated: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 12:00 AM)

tool goes here

The University of Southern California women's rowing team, currently ranked No. 5 in the nation, was in Bass Lake last week training for the upcoming national championship meet being held this weekend.

Bass Lake resident Bill Troost, a member of the USC men's varsity rowing team in 1962, is an avid rower, who at the age of 68, has routinely rowed on Bass Lake for the past 30 years.

"This team shows great unity and enthusiasm and is made up of a very talented group of women," Troost said. "They are coached by Zenon Barbaj, who was a former men's head coach at UCLA, and a coach for the U.S. Olympic team."

While at Bass Lake, the team worked out on the water twice a day for two hours each session.

The team is one of 16 teams in the country selected to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division 1 Rowing Championships. The team championships require each team to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.

The team is led by seniors Kate McFetridge, Kinga Mikolajczyk , Laura Pomatto and Helen Tinkus.

The Trojans, coming off a third-place finish at the Pac-10 championship meet, is one of five Pac-10 teams selected to the 16-team championship field. The other teams are Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Washington.

According to Troost, the team exhibits intense dedication to its goal of winning the national title.

"Additionally, rowing is an outstanding sport that you can continue throughout a lifetime," Troost said. "Research has shown you can extend your life by five years or more via the cardiovascular and muscular benefits of the sport."

Highlights of the championships will appear at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 19 on "CBS Sports Presents".

"It was quite an honor for Bass Lake to play host to a team of this caliber," Troost said.

Tweet this page Tweet