Weekend Wrap: Beach Sprints Takes on St. Catharines

Beachgoers at Lakeside Park in St. Catharines were treated to some exciting beach sprints action on Saturday, as RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #2 took on the waves on the southern shores of Lake Ontario.

The beach sprints regatta was the second to be hosted in Ontario this summer, with Beach Sprints Cup #1 being hosted in Kingston on June 21. The regatta drew rowers from 11 clubs, several of whom were taking part in their first beach sprints event. The day started with the solo events in the morning, followed by the doubles in the afternoon. After calm conditions to the start the day, a strong crosswind developed after a few hours of action, making the course more challenging as the waves tried to push the rowers to the right side of course. Spectators at the event were treated to exciting races throughout the competition, with several coming down to a dive to the buzzer at the finish line.

Time trials in the men’s open solo kicked off the day with beach sprints veteran Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) coming out with the number one seed in a time of 2:23.21. Oldham received a bye to the semi-finals where he defeated Oliver Brennan (Kingston Rowing Club) in a time of 2:19.81. The other semi-final saw beach sprints newcomer Jacob Thomas (St. Catharines Rowing Club) defeat Benjamin Wiebe (Hanlan Boat Club) to advance to the Final. In the final, Oldham topped Thomas by just under six seconds, hitting the buzzer in a winning time of 2:21.90.

In the open women’s solo, the Don Rowing Club’s Sarah Pidgen earned the number one seed after finishing four seconds ahead of second-seeded Elene Brett-Evans of the Hanlan Boat Club in the time trials. After advancing to the finals with a semifinal win over Autumn Prior (Orillia Rowing Club), Pidgen took on Brett-Evans in the final, who topped Caitlin Pauls (Ridley Graduate Boat Club) in the other semifinal. Pidgen came out the victor, tapping the buzzer in a time of 2:45.86. In other solo action, Brennan, who competed in both the open and U19 solo events, claimed the gold medal in the U19 men’s solo by defeating Merik Sommers (St. Catharines Rowing Club) in the final in a time of 2:47.57.

In doubles action, the Open Mix2x, Open W2x, U19 Mix2x, and U19 M2x categories were all contested with many of the solo competitors competing in the doubles as well. Pidgen and Oldham teamed together to win the Open Mix2x category in a time of 2:31.56, while Prior and Brennan earned gold in the U19 Mix2x in a winning time of 2:50.17. Prior also teamed with Orillia Rowing Club teammate Iris Fiddick to earn gold in the Open W2x division (3:05.11). In the U19 M2x, the St. Catharines Rowing Club’s Mason Dearborn and Mackenzie Pullar won gold in a time of 2:57.22.

RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #2 Category Winners
Open Men’s Solo – Aubrey Oldham – Leander Boat Club
Open Women’s Solo – Sarah Pidgen – Don Rowing Club
U19 Men’s Solo – Oliver Brennan – Kingston Rowing Club
Open Mixed Double – Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) & Sarah Pidgen (Don Rowing Club)
Open Women’s Double – Autumn Prior & Iris Fiddick – Orillia Rowing Club
U19 Mixed Double – Oliver Brennan (Kingston Rowing Club) & Autumn Prior (Orillia Rowing Club)
U19 Men’s Double – Mason Dearborn & Mackenzie Pullar – St. Catharines Rowing Club

For full results from the RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #2, visit RegattaCentral

For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.