Weekend Wrap: Head of the Trent and World Rowing Coastal Championships
The first weekend of October featured rowing action on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean for Ontario athletes, as the 50th edition of the Head of the Trent took place in Peterborough, Ont., and Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) and Sarah Pidgen (Don Rowing Club) competed at the World Rowing Coastal Championships in Oeiras, Portugal.
Despite not hosting an event last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Head of the Trent set a record this year with 487 boats competing in the regatta, the most in its 50-year history. Rowers representing 47 universities, high schools and rowing clubs took part in the race on Saturday, which was held on the Trent-Severn Waterway and hosted by the Peterborough Rowing Club.
In university action, the Queen’s Gaels (6 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) and Western Mustangs (2 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze) tied for the most medals won with 11 apiece. The Gaels also claimed the most gold medals with six, one of which was won by Gavin Stone, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian who claimed the gold medal in the open men’s university single. The Brock Badgers were not far behind the overall medal tally with ten (4 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze), followed by the hometown Trent Excalibur with six (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze). Grace VandenBroek of the Excalibur thrilled the hometown crowd with a gold in the women’s university single, as did the women’s double with Brianna Tombs in the bow seat as they claimed the gold with a ten-second win over the Montreal Carabins. Other Ontario universities claiming medals were the Ottawa Gee-Gees (2 gold), Carleton Ravens (2 silver, 1 bronze), McMaster Marauders (bronze) and Guelph Gryphons (bronze). Novice and junior varsity university races also took place at the regatta.
In the club divisions, the Toronto-area clubs had a solid day as the Argonaut Rowing Club were the big winners bringing home 14 medals (6 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze), followed by the Don Rowing Club who claimed ten (1 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze). The Ottawa Rowing Club was next with nine medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze), followed by the St. Catharines Rowing Club with six (2 gold, 4 silver), and the hometown Peterborough Rowing Club with five (2 gold, 3 silver). Other Ontario clubs claiming medals were the Notre Dame Rowing Club (4 gold), Georgian Bay Rowing Club (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze), Burnstown Rowing Club (2 silver), Ridley Graduate Boat Club (1 silver, 1 bronze), Leander Boat Club (gold), Tillsonburg Rowing Club (silver), Kingston Rowing Club (bronze), LaSalle Rowing Club (bronze), and Hanlan Boat Club (bronze).
Oldham and Pidgen were competing in Oeiras, Portugal for the second weekend in a row after advancing to the quarterfinals and the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals last weekend. This time around they battled challenging race conditions for a hard fought seventh place finish. Competing in the CMix2x category, they began the event on Friday by finishing in fifth place in their heat in a time of 22:00.54. Their placing allowed them to advance to Saturday’s final where they came in seventh in a time of 26:25:53. Spain swept the medals in their category, finishing first, second and third in the final. One other Canadian athlete, Charles Hauss from the Lachine Rowing Club in Quebec, competed at the event and placed 17th in the CM1x in a time of 27:14.93.
There are no regattas scheduled for this coming weekend due the Thanksgiving, but Ontario regatta action will return in two weeks at the Brock Invite in St. Catharines on Saturday, Oct. 16.
For full results on the Head of the Trent, visit RegattaCentral.
For full results on the World Rowing Coastal Championships, visit World Rowing.
