Join USA U19 4- in our mission for Gold at Worlds!

Hello everyone!

Our names are McKeane, Jack, Mattis, and Cosmo, and we’ll be sitting in that order as we race this August at the WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS in the MENS U19 STRAIGHT FOUR representing the UNITED STATES! It’s us four guys out there on the water with honestly the two best coaches in the entire country at our side - Coach Jovan and Coach Ben - and with their guidance, we are hungry to do something special and bring home gold for this beautiful country. Not only that but we are honored to represent Oakland Strokes and northern California! We can’t believe that we’re the first Strokes-made boat to ever punch our ticket to Worlds, and we’re gonna give it our absolute all to do even more for our amazing and successful program that we all truly call home.

After winning Regional Championships in this lineup and qualifying for Worlds by setting the course record for the U19 four, we were naturally very excited at the opportunity to get to race in Paris in a few weeks. However, we knew right away that we don’t just want to go for the experience, we want to BRING HOME THE TROPHY! We want to win not only because of how our coaches have taught us to set ourselves to the highest standard but because of how much we love competing and rowing. To be honest, we four guys see each other as some of our best friends, and we want to do something special together. We dedicate our entire year and a large part of our lives to this sport that we love so much, and we want to make our country, our program, and especially ourselves proud.

A few donations to our page here for travel, renting boats, and other expenses will be HUGE for us. We’re going to take it a long way as we take on the GLOBE! Thank you so much for your generosity, we’re so excited.

About Us:

Even though we all started rowing at different times in our lives and although we’re all pretty different guys, we love each other, this sport, and this boat. We all grew up in the Bay Area, but it’s kinda crazy to think of how we’ve all joined forces to make this awesome lineup!

Mckeane in the stroke seat is one of the best fighters that we’ve all ever seen. He’s been rowing for years and joined Strokes this year, and his incredible drive to win will do us well as he leads us down the course.

Jack has rowed for Strokes since the 5th GRADE and hasn’t stopped since then, and he’s been on varsity for two years. He’s been waiting for this chance for his whole life, and we all trust that he will put every fiber of his being into making this boat and us guys go fast.

Mattis is our Frenchman who will definitely help us as we try to navigate our journeys in Paris, and he has been rowing for Strokes since middle school too. He’s been on varsity for 3 years and he is heading off to UCSD this fall, so this will be the last race for him with our team as an incredible warrior and racer.

Cosmo joined Strokes this year, but he has rowed since middle school as well, and he’s one of the most talented guys you’ll ever meet. We’re lucky that we’ve got his skills in the bow seat, because not only does he have to row as hard as he can, but he’s gotta steer us down the course too.

Coach Jovan and Coach Ben are incredible coaches who are not only extremely accomplished in the sport of rowing, but they have brought us all up from novice rowers to tough, raw fighters looking to win this race with the tools they have given us. They have done so much for us to make us into the people we are.

These next few weeks are going to be an INCREDIBLE ride for all of us as we continue our training in preparation for Worlds, and we feel special knowing that we will have each other, our country, Oakland Strokes, and you all at our side as we go on this mission! USA, USA, USA!

McKeane, Jack, Mattis, Cosmo