Weekend Wrap: South Niagara Invite Highlights Victoria Day Weekend
The South Course in Welland took centre stage on the Victoria Day long weekend as the South Niagara Rowing Club hosted the annual South Niagara Invitational.
The high school regatta is an important early-season event in the calendar for high school-aged athletes, who will be competing against rowers from across the country in just three weeks at the CSSRA Championships. This year’s regatta featured a total of 452 entries from 35 clubs and high school rowing programs from across Ontario and five from Buffalo, NY. The two-day regatta’s schedule was interrupted on Saturday due to inclement weather but resumed under hot temperatures on Sunday. The two days of racing included boats in the U15, junior and senior age categories in everything from singles to eights in mixed, open and novice divisions.
With 44 different race categories, the regatta, which is the largest high school in Ontario in advance of the CSSRA Championships, saw categories race in straight finals while others featured heats depending on the number of entries. Atop the gold medal tally at the end of the event was EL Crossley SS (Fonthill) who led the way with 13 gold medals. Next was Branksome Hall (Toronto) with five, followed by Upper Canada College (Toronto) and the Don Rowing Club (Mississauga) with three, and Niagara Falls Rowing Club, Eden HS (St. Catharines), Blessed Trinity CSS (Grimsby), and Canisius H.S. (Buffalo, NY) with two apiece.
Other clubs and high school programs with one gold medal finishover the weekend included Notre Dame Rowing Club (Welland), Orillia Rowing Club, Argonaut Rowing Club (Toronto), Sir Winston Churchill SS (St. Catharines), AN Myer SS (Niagara Falls), Welland Centennial SS, and Nardin Academy Crew (Buffalo, NY).
The high school rowing season in Ontario continues this weekend (May 23) with the London Western High School Invitational. In just under three weeks high school rowers from across the country will descend on St. Catharines for the CSSRA Championships (June 5-8).
For full results from the South Niagara Invitational, visit RegattaCentral.
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Picture is property of Branksome Hall.
