Weekend Preview: World Championship Action Continues, Masters Kick Off Henley
World U19 and U23 Championships will be crowned and the first day of competition at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta will take place this weekend as the summer regatta season continues.
The World Rowing U19 and U23 Championships began on Monday, July 26 in Varese, Italy and will run until Sunday, July 31. Thirteen Canadian crews (7 U19, 6 U23) will race at the event, with a total of 25 athletes from Ontario competing. Coaches Mike Pearce (University of British Columbia), Greg Szybka (RCA/Ontario NextGen Performance Centre), Jane LaRiviere, (Washington State University Rowing), Katie Bahain-Steenman (Victoria City Rowing Club) , Scott Anderson (St. Catharines Rowing Club/Brock University) lead the U23 Team while Mike Petrychanko (St. Catharines Rowing Club), Mary Rao (Brock University), Szybka, and Anderson were named coaches of the U19 Team.
Heats in the U23 event kicked off the proceedings on Monday and the U19 heats began earlier today. In U23 action, the women’s pair of Maya Meschkuleit (Don Rowing Club) and Leia Till (Brockville Rowing Club) have already advanced to the A Final by placing first in their heat, while the men’s double of Michael Ciepiela (St. Catharines Rowing Club/Brock University) and Andrew Hubbard will compete in C Final and the men’s eight will compete in the B Final. Stephen Harris (Guelph Rowing Club/Brock University) will race in the A/B semis tomorrow as will the men’s pair (Julian Black, Joel Cullen) and the women’s double (Elisa Bollinger – Western University, Grace VandenBroeck – Peterborough Rowing Club/Trent University). The women’s eight ended their regatta earlier today in seventh place. The A Finals for the U23 Championships will take place on Friday and Saturday.
The junior men’s and women’s doubles raced earlier today with the men’s double of Owen Bartel (St. Catharines Rowing Club) and Lucas Maroney (Notre Dame Rowing Club) placing first in their heat, while Anna Pamenter (Don Rowing Club) and Cait Whittard (St. Catharines Rowing Club) placed third. Pamenter and Whittard will head to the Repechage round while Bartel and Maroney advance to the quarterfinals. More junior action will continue throughout the week, concluding with the A Finals on Sunday.
A live race tracker and live audio will be available for all races on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming will also be available on www.worldrowing.com for all races from Friday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31.
On the domestic front, the 138th Royal Canadian Henley Masters Regatta will run on Sunday, July 31 from Martindale Pond. The event will feature 42 clubs from Canada (including 17 from Ontario) the USA, Mexico and Hong Kong. There will be almost 300 total entries for the regatta, with the Don Rowing Club and Ottawa Rowing Club leading the way for Ontario with 21 entries apiece. The competitors will compete in open and lightweight singles, doubles, pairs, fours, quads and eights in men’s, women’s and mixed categories.
For more information World Rowing U19 and U23 Championships, visit World Rowing
For more information on the Royal Canadian Henley Masters Championship, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Picture used is property of RCA/Julia Kowacic.
