CARMEL VALLEY — Two 16-year-old students attending Canyon Crest Academy and Cathedral Catholic High School won a gold medal at the US Rowing Youth National Championships last month, in a race that pairs para-athletes and able-bodied athletes.
Gabriella Bigler and Kate Rasmussen, members of San Diego Rowing Club, were the winning team in the women’s youth inclusive double sculls race in the championships in Sarasota, Florida, on June 13.
The inclusive double sculls race involves teams of two rowers each using two oars racing over a distance of 2,000 meters. In the inclusive race, one of the rowers is a PR3 classified athlete with a physical or visual impairment.
Bigler, an incoming CCA junior, was born with the eye condition aniridia, which left her without fully developed irises and therefore limits her eyes’ ability to filter light. Because of that and two other eye conditions, Bigler is considered legally blind and qualifies as a para-athlete.
“This was the first year I had raced the event at nationals, so I was a bit nervous, but my doubles partner and I had a lot of good energy together. We motivated each other in the boat, and we’re both very hardworking,” Bigler said.
Bigler’s family moved to Carmel Valley from Bakersfield in 2021. She had previously been a swimmer, but decided to try out rowing in 2023 and joined San Diego Rowing Club.
Despite her relatively short time in the rowing world, Bigler is rising through the ranks quickly. Shortly after their nationals win, Bigler attended a development camp for the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Boston, which gave her the opportunity to train with Paralympian rowers.
All of this is feeding her dream to make the US National Team and compete in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.
She is also looking forward to returning to Boston in October to compete in the inclusive doubles race at the Head of the Charles competition.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m way, way out of my league, and it can feel kind of surreal sometimes. I forget that I am 16 years old. It’s been a great experience, I know I am really young, but I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Bigler said.
Rasmussen, a rising junior who lives in Pacific Beach, said she started rowing at Cathedral Catholic before joining San Diego Rowing Club last year. She had seen Bigler do the inclusive double sculls race before, and volunteered to do it with her at nationals when she needed a new double for the race.
Rasmussen said they ended up having almost no time to practice the boat together, with their first run ending up being at the time trial for the race. Nevertheless, they were able to take the gold.
“The funny thing is, we never practiced that boat, basically until we got to nationals,” Rasmussen said. “With our win, obviously that’s super cool. I had a lot of fun, and it was even more fun doing basically our first full run on that day.”
Bigler and Rasmussen also participated in the women’s youth second varsity 8+ division for San Diego Rowing at the championships. The 2,000-meter race involves a boat with eight rowers, each with one oar, and a ninth person acting as the coxswain. The club finished 18th in that division.
In addition to time trials at nationals, participating in the championships also required the girls to qualify through regional regattas earlier in the year in Sacramento.
San Diego Rowing Club Coach Patrick Kington also celebrated the victory.
“This really was something to cheer about, for our club and for Gabriella and Kate winning a gold medal at nationals, especially as they were competing in two races and the conditions were challenging,” Kington said.
