Weekend Wrap: Masters Chase Provincial Championship in Welland

The first provincial championship of 2024 took place in Welland over the weekend as rowers from the Ontario masters community competed in the RowOn Masters Championships.

The regatta was hosted on the North Course of the Welland International Flatwater Centre on Saturday, June 15. Conditions were close to ideal for the competitors, who totalled 175 entries from 19 clubs from Ontario and the United States, as they raced under blue skies with little wind throughout the morning and afternoon. Each of the 15 Ontario clubs who competed brought home some hardware to their boathouse as they each won earned at least one medal at the event.

Toronto’s Hanlan Boat Club enjoyed the most productive day on the water as they earned the most gold (8) and the most total medals (16) out of all the competing clubs. Next on the medal tally was the Argonaut Rowing Club with 15 medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 11 bronze), followed by the London Western Rowing Club with 14 (4g, 8s, 2b), the Don Rowing Club (7g, 4s, 1b) and Leander Boat Club (4g, 5s, 3b) with 12 apiece, and the St. Catharines Rowing Club with 11 (7g, 3s, 1b). Other Ontario clubs earning medals were the Georgian Bay Rowing Club (6), South Niagara Rowing Club (5), Ridley Graduate Boat Club (4), Peterborough Rowing Club (4), Ottawa Rowing Club (3), Cambridge Rowing Club (3), Tillsonburg Rowing Club (2), Barrie Rowing Club (1) and LaSalle Rowing Club (1).

The Ontario rowing community doesn’t have to wait long for the next provincial championship regatta as the RowOn Beach Sprint Championships takes place this weekend from Lakeside Beach in St. Catharines. The next Row Ontario masters-focused event will be the Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta which will be hosted on the North Course in Welland on Sunday, July 14.

For full results from the RowOn Masters Championships, visit RegattaCentral.

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