Weekend Wrap: NRC’s and Brock Invite Run in Niagara Region
Thanksgiving weekend was a busy one in the Ontario rowing community, specifically in the Niagara region, as two important regattas were held in St. Catharines and Welland respectively.
The RCA National Rowing Championships took place on the South Course of the Welland International Flatwater Centre from Oct. 11-13, while the Brock Invitational ran from Martindale Waterways in St. Catharines. The NRC’s were hosted in Ontario for the first time since 2015 and featured 129 entries from 32 clubs from across Canada competing in men’s, women’s and para singles and pairs. In addition to crowning National Champions, the event served as an important regatta for national and provincial rankings, which can be used to determine National Training Centre invitations, NextGen athlete rankings and camp invitations, and Sport Canada Athlete Assistance Program and provincial funding. Athletes competed in either their provincial or club colours, giving National Team athletes a chance to re-connect with their rowing roots.
On the men’s side, Brock’s Stephen Harris claimed the National title in the men’s single in a time of 7:27.71. Harris came into the event as the defending lightweight men’s single national champion and earned his first open men’s singles title by topping BC’s Giancarlo DiPompeo by 1.3 seconds. DiPompeo earned the U23 men’s national singles championship, while the Notre Dame Rowing Club’s Liam Shapland won the junior men’s singles championship on his home course in a time of 7:31.20. In the men’s pair, the composite crews of Stephen Rosts (ON) and Axel Ewashko (AB) and Adam Griesbach (Western) and Kai Elrick (AB) won the senior and U23 national titles respectively. Ridley College’s Caillen Pieckenhagen and Elliott Leal claimed the junior men’s pair in a time of 7:33.39. Quebec’s Charles-Etienne Tabet brought home both the senior and U23 men’s lightweight singles championship in a time of 7:35.79.
In women’s action, Alizée Brien (QC) won the senior women’s singles in a time of 8:09.27, while Nova Scotia’s Emily Munroe, who placed sixth overall in the A Final, earned the U23 women’s singles championship in a time of 8:30.02. The Don Rowing Club’s Elizabeth Najjar won the junior women’s singles race with an impressive performance, finishing over five seconds clear of the second-place finisher in the C Final in a time of 8:27.69. The 17-year-old Najjar was the only junior competitor to reach the C Final. The senior women’s pair was won by the composite crew of Alexis Cronk (ON) and Caileigh Filmer (BC), the U23 women’s pair victors were Jacquie Groenewegen and Kaija Erickson of the Kingston Rowing Club, and the junior women’s pair was won by Georgia Skeans and Addyson Bymoen of Alberta.
Brock University’s Mia Biancaniello won the women’s PR3 single in a time of 9:42.92 over the St. Catharines Rowing Club’s Abbygayle Durliat (9:55.73).
Meanwhile in St. Catharines the Brock Invitational was the last chance for Ontario’s university rowers to test themselves against their counterparts prior to the OUA Championships. A total of 14 university programs competed at the event, with 211 entries. With the Brock Invitational now in the rearview mirror, the competitors will turn their focus to the OUA’s, which will take place from the same course on Oct. 25-26.
For full results from the NRC’s, visit RegattaCentral
For full results from the Brock Invitational, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Photo is property of RCA.
