Oakland Strokes

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The Oakland Strokes is a long established and very successful Junior level rowing club. Membership in the Oakland Strokes is open to all high school students and financial aid is available to those who qualify. The program is made up of Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s crews (Men’s Varsity, Women’s Varsity, Novice Men’s and Novice Women’s crews). In addition to rowing technique, the coaches emphasize our values of teamwork, leadership, initiative, dedication and fellowship.

In addition to successful rowing, our team members have also enjoyed successful academic achievement. Each year a great majority of our graduating seniors matriculate to prestigious colleges with strong rowing teams. Strokes alumni are currently attending Stanford, USC, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, University of Washington, UCLA, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis, Penn, Trinity College, Boston University and Bates College.

With the growing importance of Title IX, a great many universities are adding a women's crew as a varsity sport and offering scholarships to support the rowers in reaching their academic goals. 1997 was the inaugural year of NCAA Women's Championship.

Contents 1 Coaches 2 Ivan 3 Alex Simon 4 Other Coaches 5 Achievements 6 History 7 References

[edit] Coaches

The head coach is UCLA and US national team alumni Beth Anderson, also the coach of Women's Novice team. Beth started her rowing career as a junior with Pacific Rowing Club and Oakland Strokes. She rowed for four years on the UCLA crew, winning a national championship. After college, she began coaching at Pacific RC (San Francisco) and then for Purdue University, where she received a masters in Sports Management. Beth then moved on to coach U.C. Davis from 1991-93. During her post college career, Beth was an assistant coach with the U.S. Junior Men's team prior to and at the 1989 World Junior Championships in Szeged, Hungary. She was the manager for the U.S. Junior Women's team for both the 1992 World Championships in Montreal and the 1993 World Championships near Oslo, Norway. Beth has been an elected member of the U.S. Rowing's Board of Directors for four years, and prior to that was a four-year member of U.S. Rowing's Junior Men's Committee. Beth and her husband, John, have four children.

[edit] Ivan

The Varsity Mens Coach is former Serbian Olympic rower Ivan Smiljanic. Ivan grew up in Serbia and got into the University of California Berkley with his phenomenal rowing skills. Ivan recently graduated from UC Berkeley with his degree in Economics and Political Science. Before joining the Strokes, he was the Varsity Assistant Coach for the Cal Men’s Crew Team. While coaching, Cal Varsity won the National Championships and the Team Trophy for the first time in history of Cal Crew (1868-today). Crews he coached won two Pac-10 titles and two Silver medals at the National Championships. Ivan also rowed for Cal and served as the Team Captain. While on the team, he won two Gold medals and a Bronze at the Nationals Championships as well as taking home 2 Gold and 2 Silver medals at the PAC-10 Championships. Ivan was also a member of the Serbian National Rowing Team and under Serbian flag he rowed at the 2000 Olympic Games and received 2 Gold medals (2000, 2001), two Silver medals (1999, 2002) and a Bronze medal (2003) at the World Championships. In addition to coaching the Men’s Varsity Team for Oakland Strokes, Ivan works in sales for a San Francisco-based technology company.

[edit] Alex Simon

Alex Simon is the assistant coach. Alex rowed for Saint Ignatius High School where his crew won the Youth Rowing National Championships Regatta in Cincinnati Ohio. He currently attends the University of California Berkley where he rowed both his Freshman and Sophomore year.

[edit] Other Coaches

Ian Simpson is the Varsity Women's coach. Mike Johnson is the assistant coach for the Varsity Women.

Jason Hilton and Dave Adams coach Novice men.

Beth Anderson, Amy Boyle, who rowed for Boston College, and Lauren Finston are the Novice Women coaches.

[edit] Achievements

Lucas Ahlstrand holds the boathouse record for a 2,000 meter piece. The 500 meter split was 6:14.

In 2007, Oakland Strokes, TJ Laher and women's coxswain Aliza Koorji make the US Rowing National Team world boat.

In 2007, a novice lightweight four composed of Andrew Ramos, Will Provost, Michael Schier, and Billy Deskin qualified for Nationals. They traveled to Cincinnati Ohio where they placed 5th.

2007, Women's Varsity LW8+ win the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival. Coach: Ian Simpson, Coxswain: Molly Fehr, Rowers: Mollie Roark, Rose D'Orazio, Maso Motlow, Sarah Coppock-Pector, Kendra Nyberg, Anne Hofinga, Charlotte Horsey, Ayla Koenig

2008, Women's Varsity LW8+ win the San Diego Crew Classic Gold Medal & Referee Cup. Coach: Ian Simpson, Coxswain: Molly Fehr, Rowers: Mollie Roark, Rose D'Orazio, Maso Motlow, Sarah Coppock-Pector, Sarah Goldman, Anne Hofinga, Erin Mullin, Ayla Koenig

2008, Women's Varsity LW8+ win the silver medal at the Long Beach Invitational. Coach: Ian Simpson, Coxswain: Molly Fehr, Rowers: Mollie Roark, Rose D'Orazio, Maso Motlow, Sarah Coppock-Pector, Sarah Goldman, Anne Hofinga, Erin Mullin, Ayla Koenig

2008, Women's Varsity LW8+ and Women's Varsity 8+ both take bronze medals at the US Rowing Southwest Regional Championships and advance to the US Rowing National Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio. Varsity 8+ boat consisted of coxswain Leslie Chou, stroke Kelly Bauer, Nikki Dahlberg-Seeth, Dana Walsh, Ally Weiland, Dara Dickson, Claire Grover, Piper Akol, and Alim. Varsity LW8+ boat consisted of coxswain Molly Fehr, stroke Maso Motlow, Rosie D'Orazio, Anne Hofinga, Mollie Roark, Erin Mullin, Sarah Goldman, Ayla Koenig, and Sarah Coppock-Pector.

2008, Men's Varsity Lightweight 4+ take the Silver medal at the US Rowing Southwest Regional Championships and advance to the US Rowing National Championships in Cincinnati. Coach: Ivan Smiljanic and Alex Simon. Coxswain: Alexander Topacio. Rowers: Andy Ramos, Garrett T. Bell, John "Jack" Howerton, and Will Provost.

[edit] History

THE LEGACY OF ED LICKISS

The Oakland Strokes was founded in 1974 by Ed Lickiss, a local electrical contractor, who, as a student at Cal, had won the Pacific Coast Sculling Championship for three years in a row and by 1940 was chosen to represent his country at the Olympic Games. Because of the war, the games were cancelled and Ed joined the Army Air Corps instead.

After the war Ed returned to Oakland and to rowing, founded the Lake Merritt Rowing Club in 1960, and established a program of crew for high school students. Historically, crew had been a men’s sport. Believing that women would also enjoy crew, Ed began training young women and, with Joanna Iverson and Ted Nash, founded the National Women’s Rowing Association in 1964. Today the USRA honors him with the annual Edwin E. Lickiss Trophy for the Lightweight Women’s Four Championship.

Ed envisioned crew as a sport that could provide young athletes with both excellent physical training and the confidence to succeed in life’s most challenging endeavors. To provide a framework for that vision, he incorporated the Strokes as a California nonprofit corporation and it became chartered as Explorer Post 8 and 9 of the Boy Scouts of America, Piedmont Council.

On Ed’s death in 1985, a group of his family and friends joined together to keep alive his dedication to rowing. Today, the Oakland Strokes is operated by a board of directors that includes former coaches and rowers and the parents of former and current rowers. The board sets the policies and carries out the responsibilities of the rowing program.

AFFILIATIONS

U.S. Rowing Association

The U.S. Rowing Association (USRA) is the governing body for crew in the United States. Membership in the U.S. Rowing Association (USRA) is included in your membership with Oakland Strokes. (Therefore, ignore USRA membership renewal notices until graduation.)

[edit] References