4 Bay Area teens in Paris competing for World Rowing Championships

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Four Bay Area teens will be competing in the World Rowing Championships in Paris this week.

Jack Hume, Cosmo Hondrogen, Mattis Hevin, of Alameda, McKeane McBrearty, of Oakland are representing Oakland Strokes in the men's U19 straight four races beginning Wednesday through Sunday.

"We can’t believe that we’re the first Strokes-made boat to ever punch our ticket to Worlds, and we’re going to give it our absolute all to do even more for our amazing and successful program that we all truly call home," Hevin said.

Also known as "The Four," the team won regionals and set the course record for U19 to qualify for the once-in-a-life-time opportunity to compete for gold. They will be joined by their coaches Jovan and Ben, and have been training six or seven days per week to prepare for the event.

The boys raised much of the money to pay for the trip through a Gofundme page.

"It's been really great a lot of support Oakland Strokes Club, the local community," said Hondrogen. "So far we've raised $21,000 out of the $25,000 we needed to be able to pull this off financially."

Representing the Oakland Strokes, four Bay Area teens will be competing in the World Rowing Championship in Paris this week.

"The Four" are competing in the World Rowing Championship in Paris August 2-6, 2023.

Their first race is Thursday, with more scheduled through the weekend.

"Something we always come back to is we say, let's do it for the big O, to represent everyone back home," said Hume. "It's what we love to do."