Laguna Beach Student Places 6th at U.S. Youth Rowing Nationals

ORANGE COUNTY, CA -- Laguna Beach resident Amar Bhatia and his teammate, Noah Cours, were finalists and placed sixth overall at the U.S. Rowing Youth Nationals held at Sarasota, Florida, June 6-9.

The two-person team represented Newport Seabase Rowing in the Lightweight Men's Youth Doubles, and eliminated top teams from across the the nation in timed trials, and semi-finals over the course of the week.

The no. 6 national ranking is the highest ever from Newport Seabase in this division. Newport Seabase Rowing, based in Newport Beach, is a nonprofit program administered by the Sea Base division of the Orange County Boy Scouts of America.

Bhatia, 17, is a junior at Laguna Beach High School. Cours, who resides in Los Alamitos, is a sophomore at Los Alamitos High.

"I'm very proud of the boys and can't wait to see them bring this experience back with them to lead the program forward," Newport Men's Varsity coach James Long-Lerno said.