Canisius rowers are coming home with a national title.
The Crusaders won the Under-17 4+ final in 6 minutes, 47.072 seconds Sunday at the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Fla. It is the fourth youth national championship for Canisius.
The crew took the lead from the start of what coach R.J. Rubino termed “a perfectly executed race” and refused to surrender the advantage, holding off Cincinnati Juniors, which finished a half-second behind in 6:47.698. “Our boys lead every stroke of the regatta from time trial, to semifinal, to grand final,” Canisius Rowing coach R.J. Rubino ’09 said of the gold-medal winning four. “They finished the job with a perfectly executed race. “These rowers are the real deal and can go a long way in the sport of rowing and in life.”
A time of less than seven minutes in the event is “elite speed,” for a high school crew, Rubino said.
The championship crew is made up of Liam Feeney ’25 (stroke), John Hart Jr. ’26, Isaiah Aljuwani ’25, Thomas Skowron ’25 (bow) and Noah Rajecki ’25 (cox).
