Weekend Wrap: Row Ontario Championships Return to Welland
The first Row Ontario Championships since 2019 took place over the weekend from the Welland International Flatwater Centre.
The two-day event ran on Saturday and Sunday on the WIFC’s South Course and featured over 500 entries from 30 clubs from across Ontario and the United States. The weather played a factor over the weekend as on Saturday the regatta was run under clear blue skies but with hot and muggy temperatures. Despite the forecast calling for wind and thunder storms all day on Sunday, most of the events were able to run as the skies cleared around 10:30am. The men’s and women’s singles finals were cancelled due to the morning’s weather, with the rest of the scheduled events picking up at 12pm. Medals in the singles events were awarded based on time trial results from Saturday.
The St. Catharines Rowing Club earned the most medals over the weekend, claiming 33 (16 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze), followed by the Argonaut Rowing Club with 21 (7 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) and the Ottawa Rowing Club with 18 (5 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze). Rounding out the top-5 was the Notre Dame Rowing Club with 16 (7 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze) and the West Side Rowing Club (Buffalo) who claimed 13 (4 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze).
Other clubs who claimed medals included the Leander Boat Club (4 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze), Don Rowing Club (3 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze), Western University (4 gold, 4 bronze), Peterborough Rowing Club (3 gold, 5 silver), Guelph Rowing Club (2 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze), Kingston Rowing Club (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), London Western Rowing Club (3 silver), Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association (1 gold), Brockville Rowing Club (1 silver), Georgian Bay Rowing Club (1 bronze), Niagara Falls Rowing Club (1 bronze), Ridley College (1 bronze), and Ridley Graduate Boat Club (1 bronze).
On the other side of the province, the 117th NWIRA Championships were held in Kenora, Ont., which included 19 entries from the Thunder Bay Rowing Club. The Thunder Bay crew of Rory Smith, Meghan Neil, Kaija Erickson and Jemima De Jong claimed the bronze medal in the Open Women’s four. The RCA Beach Sprints Qualifier also took place from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Winners included Anthony Ciaccia of the Hanlan Boat Club in the men’s single, and Ciaccia and Tom Stender in the men’s double.
For full results from the Row Ontario Championships, visit RegattaCentral
For full results from the NWIRA Championships, visit RegattaCentral
For more information on the Lunenburg Beach Sprints and RCA Qualifier, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
