Row Ontario Regattas
Row Ontario hosts several regattas throughout the year, aimed at providing quality race experiences that are aligned with the Athlete Development model and development pathway for rowing in Ontario.
RowOn Championships
The first Row Ontario Championship Regatta was developed through the efforts of Row Ontario’s 12 member clubs working together to create a Provincial Championships regatta in 1968. As the regatta has evolved, the Row Ontario Championships has become a premier event in the summer racing calendar for Ontario member clubs and athletes.
RowOn Masters Championships
The Row Ontario Masters Championship began in 2002 when the size of the Row Ontario Championships outgrew its two-day capacity to offer racing opportunities for both Masters and Open competitors in the same regatta. The Row Ontario Masters Championships has increased the quality of racing opportunities for Masters Athletes and become a premier event in the summer racing calendar for Masters from across Ontario and the United States.
Row Ontario Cup
The Row Ontario Cup Regatta is a new competition model, implemented by Row Ontario in 2024, featuring a series of promotion-relegation short distance races, where athletes are grouped based on speed, regardless of age, weight, or gender. The main objectives of this new format are to better align competitions with the Athlete Development Model and the development pathway for rowing in Ontario, while also creating a model that promotes co-learning opportunities as they relate to the roles and responsibilities of athletes, coaches, umpires, and volunteers during a regatta.
RowOn Beach Sprints
Row Ontario hosted the inaugural RowOn Beach Sprint Championships in 2023, and now Beach Sprint events are an annual feature in the RowOn regatta calendar. These events are designed to provide a quality race experience for athletes, coaches, and umpires as the new Beach Sprints discipline continues to grow and gain momentum. They are very spectator-friendly and a great chance to showcase coastal rowing and the newest Olympic discipline of Beach Sprints.
The Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta
The ‘Tony B’ has become a staple of the early summer racing calendar for Masters rowers in Ontario. Row Ontario took over hosting duties of the regatta in 2022 from Brock University Rowing, who had hosted the annual event since its inception. The Tony B. takes place in Welland on the North Course of the Welland International Flatwater Centre.
OUA Championships
In 2016, Row Ontario partnered with Ontario University Athletics (OUA) to host the provincial university championships. Each October, the finest Varsity athletes in Ontario University rowing compete at the OUA Championship Regatta. Men’s and Women’s teams for participating institutions race in ten events each to challenge for gold, silver and bronze medals as well as points towards the coveted Men’s and Women’s championship banners.
