NORWALK — On Saturday, April 19, Maritime Rowing Club (MRC) won four medals, including one gold, two silvers and a bronze against strong competition from 64 clubs and schools at the Mercer Sprints in Princeton, N.J.

With sunny warm weather providing almost perfect rowing conditions, the 27 rowers from MRC extended their long tradition of winning or medaling in the marquee events.

Later in the month, on April 27, the girls team traveled to Boston to compete in the Charles River Scrimmage, where it won two races and finished second and third in other two races.

The boys team competed at the Cooper Cup in Cherry Hill, N.J. taking bronze in the Varsity Quad, silver in the Men's Novice 8-plus and second in the Men's JV Quad.

A first for MRC this season is the addition of a girls novice team and they kicked it into high gear at Mercer, winning their Novice 8 final by 23 seconds over perennial powerhouse Mercer, who competed Saturday on their home course.

MRC won the seven-boat, 1,500-meter final in 5 minutes, 37.10 seconds. They later increased that winning streak to three as they once again won their novice event, this time by 28 seconds over CRI and other New England teams.

The Boys and Girls Varsity continue to be powerful forces in the girls sweep events and boys sculling.

At Mercer, the Girls Varsity 4-plus won their heat and then took silver in the final, three seconds behind national champion, the Peddie School. They won their event in Boston, by four seconds over Wayland-Weston.

The Girls Second 4-plus took fourth place in their final at Mercer and came in third in Boston.

The Girls Varsity 8-plus took home a bronze at Mercer, finishing behind Mercer and Mount St Joseph from Philadelphia in the 2,000-meter final, finishing with a time of 7:40.30. It also took second in Boston, this time beating Mercer, Saratoga and Wayland Weston.

Ryan Hanavan, a novice rower and WHS freshman, had a very exciting weekend as he came home from Cooper Cup with two silver medals: in the Men's Novice 8+ and the Mens JV Quad.

The Boys 4x, defending national champions, took second at Mercer behind arch-rival Malvern, also from Philadelphia. These two boats battle back and forth every year to rule in this event and Saturday both Malvern and Maritime won their heats, setting up for another showdown. Malvern came out on top by 11 seconds.

At Cooper River, they once again came up against a tough Malvern team and also Conestoga, but were able to win the bronze medal.

Next for the boys will be the St.Lukes Invitational Regatta on Sunday, May 11 in Norwalk .

On Saturday, May 10, MRC will hold an Open House for youth and adults from 9-11:30 a.m., and a "Learn to Row" fundraiser from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 pm.

All are welcome at the MRC boathouse, 11 Goldstein Place in East Norwalk, to learn more about the rowing programs available.

The 2008 Maritime Rowing Summer Programs will run June 16th to August 8th.