Weekend Wrap: Kingston Hosts RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #1
The newest Olympic rowing discipline took over the waves and beach at Grass Creek Park in Kingston, ON, on Saturday, June 21.
RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #1, the first of two beach sprint events in Ontario this summer, featured solo and doubles action in Open, U19, and mixed categories. The regatta drew rowers from eight clubs, including two from Quebec, and had 44 entries across a total of eight race categories. Eastern Ontario clubs were well represented at the event, with 15 entries each from the hometown Kingston Rowing Club and nearby Brockville Rowing Club.
The regatta began in the morning with time trials in the solo events as the competitors got their first taste of how the 250m course was playing with the wind and currents. Many of the rowers were competing in their first beach sprint event and had the opportunity to train on the course on Friday afternoon to get the hang of the discipline. Following time trials, the competitors faced off in repechage rounds, quarterfinals or semifinals depending on the number of competitors in their category. The head-to-head action is always the most exciting at a beach sprint event, particularly on Saturday where several races came down to a sprint on the beach to be the first to hit the buzzer and claim victory.
The biggest, and busiest, winner on the day was Autumn Prior of the Orillia Rowing Club, who each claimed two first place finishes and one second place finish. Prior competed in the open women’s and U19 women’s solo and open mixed double and raced a total of 11 times including time trials. She posted the fastest time trial in both the Open and U19 women’s solo’s to enter both brackets as the number one seed. In the open final, she faced off against Elene Brett-Evans of the Hanlan Boat Club in one of the most exciting races of the day. Both competitors exited the water at the same time and were neck and neck halfway up the beach until a stumble by Brett-Evans allowed Prior to pull away at the end and hit the buzzer first, crossing the line in a time of 2:40.17. In the U19 women’s solo final, Prior topped Kaie Bain of the Kingston Rowing Club by seven seconds in a time of 2:48.11.
Veteran beach sprint rower Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) was also a double gold medalist on Saturday, finishing in first place in both the open men’s solo and open mixed double. In the solo, Oldham earned the number one seed after posting a 2:25.01 time in the time trials and cruised through his quarterfinals and semifinals matchups to face-off against Cole Carter (Kingston Rowing Club) in the final. Oldham posted a 2:27.87 time in the final en route to an impressive victory. In the open mixed double, Oldham teamed with Caitlin Pauls of the Ridley Graduate Boat Club. The duo got off to a strong start and earned a bye to the semifinals after posting the fastest time in the time trials. After winning their semifinals matchup they went up against Prior and Raphael Kaiser (Aviron Knowlton) in the final. Both teams tackled the course with impressive speed, with Oldham and Pauls coming out on top by three seconds in a time of 2:20.40.
The U19 men’s solo final came down to two members of the Kingston Rowing Club as Oliver Brennan topped his teammate Benjamin Dewal in a time of 2:43.71. The Brockville Rowing Club’s James St. Pierre came out on top in the B Final over teammate Sean Currie in a time of 2:56.78 to claim third place.
In U19 doubles action, Brennan and Dewal teamed up to claim the men’s doubles gold medal for the KRC in a fast 2:32.28 time, while Brockville’s Serena Bryan and Dakota Roffey placed first in the women’s U19 final in a time of 3:06.48. Bryan and Currie then teamed up in the U19 mixed double and earned the victory in the final in a time of 2:50.99.
The conditions on the water were favourable for the competitors for most of the day as the waves stayed at a reasonable level, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid-20’s throughout the day. The beach at Grass Creek Park was packed with supporters from the Kingston rowing community and beyond, several of which volunteered to help the event run smoothly.
The next beach sprint event on Row Ontario’s calendar is RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #2, which will take place on Saturday, Aug. 23 at Lakeside Park in St. Catharines.
RowOn Beach Sprints Cup #1 Category Winners
Open Men’s Solo – Aubrey Oldham – Leander Boat Club
Open Women’s Solo – Autumn Prior – Orillia Rowing Club
U19 Men’s Solo – Oliver Brennan – Kingston Rowing Club
U19 Women’s Solo – Autumn Prior – Orillia Rowing Club
Open Mixed Double – Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) & Caitlin Pauls (Ridley Graduate Boat Club)
U19 Mixed Double – Serena Bryan & Sean Currie – Brockville Rowing Club
U19 Men’s Double – Oilver Brennan & Benjamin Dewal – Kingston Rowing Club
U19 Women’s Double – Dakota Roffey & Serena Bryan – Brockville Rowing Club
For full results from the RowOn Beach Cup #1, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
