Weekend Wrap: Masters Rowers Take on the ‘Tony B’

The Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta took place on Saturday from the North Course of the Welland International Flatwater Centre. The ‘Tony B’ was hosted by Row Ontario for the second consecutive year and featured masters rowers from 16 rowing clubs from Ontario and the United States.

The action kicked off at 10am on Saturday morning and the rowers were treated to favourable conditions as the temperature hovered around 22-24 degrees celsius for most of the day with minimal wind contributing to mostly calm waters, particularly in the afternoon. The Hanlan Boat Club showed the strength of their masters program by earning the most medals of any club with 13. Their seven first place finishes tied with Don Rowing Club for the most gold medals, while they also claimed four silver and two bronze. Don’s also had a solid day on the regatta course, claiming a total of 11 medals (7 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) which tied them for second overall with the Leander Boat Club (1 gold, 5 silver, 5 bronze). Rounding out the top-5 were the Argonaut Rowing Club (4 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze) and the London Western Rowing Club (4 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze) who each claimed ten medals.

Other Ontario clubs to reach the podium on Saturday were the South Niagara Rowing Club (2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), Ridley Graduate Boat Club (1 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze), St. Catharines Rowing Club (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze), Georgian Bay Rowing Club (3 gold, 1 silver), Peterborough Rowing Club (1 gold, 3 silver), Ottawa Rowing Club (1 silver, 2 bronze) and Sudbury Rowing Club (1 gold).

Ontario masters rowers will be next in action at the CORA Regatta in Welland on Saturday, July 8, followed by the RowOn Masters Championship in Welland on Sunday, July 16. Registration for the RowOn Masters Championship will be open soon.

Meanwhile in Varese, Italy, 31 rowers from the Canadian National Team kicked off their competitive season at World Rowing Cup II. The regatta took place on Lake Varese in Northern Italy and was held over three days of heated competition from June 16-18. Canada sent a total of nine boats to the starting line including women’s eight, women’s four (2), women’s quad, women’s lightweight double, men’s eight, men’s quad, and men’s single.

The team qualified two boats for the A Final, as the lightweight women’s double (Moffat, Casson) and the women’s four (Sevick, Deane, Rosts, Edwards) each came in fifth place. The eight’s went to straight finals with the women coming in third and the men finishing in fifth, while the remaining boats all finished in the top-3 of their respective B Finals. Trevor Jones, competing in the men’s single, withdrew midway through the competition due to medical reasons.

The National Team athletes will next be in action at the 2023 Henley Royal Regatta taking place over six days from Tuesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 2. One of the most prestigious regattas in the world, the Henley Royal Regatta is the highlight of the British summer rowing calendar and for many of National Team athletes, this will be the first time they have competed at the historic regatta.

For full results on the Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta, visit RegattaCentral.
For the full story on World Rowing Cup II, visit Rowing Canada Aviron.