Have paddle, will travel

Marisa O’Neil

People shopping on Balboa Island might have wondered if one shop

owner had seen “Pirates of the Caribbean” one too many times.

Last week, Gail Hammerschmidt filled the window of her Sandpiper

store with every pirate-related knickknack she could find. She wanted

everyone to know that the rowers of Orange Coast College -- the

Pirates -- are really going places, and fast.

“The guys practice in [Newport] Bay every day,” Hammerschmidt

said. “A lot of people see them every morning but don’t know what an

outrageously fast group of guys they are.”

Members of OCC’s rowing teams head East this weekend to compete

with some of the country’s best crews. Two women’s boats -- a novice

eight and varsity four -- and one novice and two varsity men’s eights

headed to their national championships in Massachusetts this weekend.

“This is a huge testament to how we’ve done this year,” co-captain

Danny Johnson said. “We set our sights on it and, step by step, we

made that happen.”

OCC was one of only 18 small, nonscholarship colleges invited to

each event in the Eastern College Athletic Conference National

Invitational Rowing Championships, head coach Larry Moore said. Other

colleges attending include the University of Virginia, University of

Michigan and Marist, Ithaca and Vassar colleges.

The men’s varsity eight won the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew

Classic last month, giving Moore hope that OCC could secure a berth

at this weekend’s regatta. OCC is the only community college in the

country with a rowing team.

“As far as varsity level, we’re at an extreme disadvantage,” Moore

said. “We have people who are a freshman one year, then sophomores

and then they’re gone. By the time they’re getting to learn things,

they’re in someone else’s program and competing against us.”

But getting invited to a regatta on the other coast is one thing,

getting there is another. Just sending the men’s team will cost

$27,000, Moore said.

Hammerschmidt decided to lend a hand, placing pirate and rowing

memorabilia in her shop window and donating 10% of sales last week to

the crew’s trip. That’s despite the fact that her husband, a coach

and rigger for the team, will be in Massachusetts for her birthday

and Mother’s Day, Moore joked.

The teams still came up short on funds, but managed to borrow

enough to get them to the races, Moore said. The boats left Sunday on

a trailer headed East and the team leaves today.

“If we have to deliver phone books or sell Christmas trees to pay

it back, we will,” he said.