Weekend Wrap: Henley Kicks Off with Masters; U19 Rowers Compete in Paris
The August long weekend featured exciting rowing action for both masters and junior rowers as the 139th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta kicked off in St. Catharines and the 2023 World Rowing U19 Championships took place in Paris, France.
The best U19 rowers in the world competed in challenging weather conditions from Aug. 2-5 at Vaires-sur-Marnes Nautical in Paris, the same venue that will host the 2024 Olympic Games in just under a year. The inclement weather brought on delays that led to a condensed schedule for the event, which was originally slated to wrap up on Sunday, Aug. 6. The Sunday sessions were cancelled midway through the competition and a new race programme was developed with the competition wrapping up a day early on Saturday.
Ontario was well-represented within the Canadian contingent, which featured five boats and 13 athletes, ten of which are based in Ontario. The top-finishing entry in the event was the women’s pair of Makeda Harrison (St. Catharines Rowing Club) and Sarah Stacey (Notre Dame Rowing Club) who came out on top in the B Final to finish in seventh place overall. Three other Canadian Boats advanced to the B Final, including the women’s four of Ingrid Eshuis (SCRC), Emma Goedhart (NDRC), Novella Rusman (Brentwood College School, BC) and Stella Bittman (Ontario NextGen Performance Centre) who finished in ninth, Lucas Maroney (ONGPC) who cracked the top-10 in the men’s single with a fourth place finish in the B Final, and the all-ONGPC women’s quad of Madeson Scott, Autumn Crowe, Clara Van Dyk and Julia Teixeira who finished their regatta in 12th. Connor Bohlman and Peter Scaccabarozzi of Vancouver College in BC also placed second the men’s pair C Final to finish in 14th overall.
Meanwhile in St. Catharines, the Royal Canadian Henley Masters Regatta ran on Sunday, Aug. 6 and played host to masters rowers from across Canada and the USA. A total of 48 clubs were represented at the annual event which took place from its home on Martindale Waterways. The event doubled as the 2023 RCA Canadian Masters Rowing Championships, meaning national bragging rights were on the line throughout the full day of competition which featured 334 entries across a total of 55 race categories.
The Don Rowing Club’s ten gold medals were the most earned by any club as they showed their masters program is one of the tops in the country. Next on the gold medal tally was the Leander Boat Club with six, which tied with Arizona’s Endeavor Racing Alliance for the second most overall. Other Ontario club’s bringing home gold medals on Sunday were the London Western Rowing Club (3), Ridley Graduate Boat Club (3), Georgian Bay Rowing Club (2), Ottawa Rowing Club (2), Peterborough Rowing Club (2), Hanlan Boat Club (1), Burnstown Rowing Club (1), South Niagara Rowing Club (1), and Brock University Rowing (1).
The rest of the action at the 139th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta kicked off this morning and will run for six days until Sunday, Aug. 13.
For full results from the 2023 World Rowing U19 Championships, visit RCA.
For full results from the Royal Canadian Henley Masters Regatta, visit RCHR.
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Photo is property of the Ottawa Rowing Club.
