Weekend Wrap: St. Catharines Treated to Phenomenal Week of Rowing at MEGA Worlds
For just the third time in history the World Rowing Championships took place in Ontario this year, with St. Catharines playing host to the top Senior, U23 and Junior rowers from around the world.
The two previous World Rowing Championships to be hosted on Ontario waters were also in St. Catharines, in 1970 and 1999 respectively. The 2024 edition, dubbed MEGA Worlds thanks to Junior, U23, and Senior events all taking place at the same time and venue, ran from Aug. 18-25 on Martindale Pond. In addition to the excitement of the on-water action, the festivities for the week included a 4-day Fan Festival at Rennie Park, which featured food trucks, vendor booths, a ferris wheel and a lineup of concerts each day.
“Let me thank and congratulate all of the athletes,” said Jean-Christophe Rolland, World Rowing President following the last race on Sunday. “You have shown the best value of our sport. I would like to thank the Organising Committee, the Technical Officials and, in particular, the many volunteers. You have delivered a great and successful event. Thank you to the partners and thank you to the spectators for a great atmosphere. And now, I declare the 2024 World Rowing Senior, U23 and U19 Championships closed!”
A total of six race categories were contested as part of the Senior World Championships (all non-Olympic disciplines), 21 in the U23 Worlds and 14 in the Junior World Championships. Depending on the size of the category, the events began with heats, followed by a repechage round, semi-finals and finals. The majority of the A Finals were contested from Friday-Sunday, making the last three days of competition extra exciting for those in attendance. The Craig Swayze Grandstand at the end of the Henley Course was filled throughout the week with enthusiastic supporters from across the world, who could be heard cheering well across the pond and throughout the venue as rowers were approaching the finish line.
Canada sent a total of 83 athletes to the starting line at the event in 23 different boat classes. While the host country was unable to reach the podium, the Canadian athletes delivered several strong performances throughout the week, including a few athletes racing close to home. In the U19 Men’s Single, Welland’s Lucas Maroney had a strong regatta against a deep field of competitors, finishing the event in 5th place. Maroney, who has been training out of the Ontario NextGen Performance Centre since 2020, finished second in his opening heat on Wednesday to advance to Saturday’s A/B Semifinals, where he qualified for Sunday’s A Final with a third-place finish. In the final, Maroney battled hard in the last 500m, overtaking Australia’s single and finishing just a second behind Switzerland’s boat in fifth place. The U23 lightweight double of St. Catharine’s Owen Kudreikis and Giancarlo Dipompeo also had an impressive regatta and qualified for the A Final after finishing second in their repechage round. They came in a solid 4th place in the final ahead of Germany and Austria, finishing four seconds behind third-place France.
A total of 26 nations won medals at the event, led by Germany and Italy who finished in a tie for the most medals with 16. Romania finished with the most gold medals with seven.
For full results from the Mega World Rowing Championships, visit WorldRowing
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
