By Rachel Pettis
There’s just no ending the summer without the highly anticipated Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Across the board RBC had quite a successful week with multiple crews leaving St. Catharines wearing some pretty hardware. The conditions on Henley Island grew more and more favorable each day and by Sunday treated the crews to nearly flat water and sunny skies. To start off the week, the Master’s Men’s 8+ won gold as did Nik Kurmakov in the Master’s 1x. Both Men’s Masters 4+ finished 2nd overall.
Lauren Ayers took home gold in the Senior Women’s Lightweight 1x, arguably one of them most competitive events of the week. Finishing just ahead of Vesper after a mean sprint, Lauren’s victory was as exciting as it was deserved. Mike Farry placed second in the Senior Men’s Lightweight 1x in another extremely competitive final. Men’s and Women’s Sweeps also fared well against rival and Canadian clubs alike.
The Senior Men’s 8+ finished sixth overall and the Women’s 8+ Dash took home second. The Women’s Senior 2- finished third and in an extremely close race RBC took home third and fourth in the Women’s U23 2-. The Senior Women’s Lightweight 4- took home 4th overall but was the first American crew to cross the line. According to a spectator in the Port Dalhousie grandstand this particular race was one of the most exciting due to some questionable steering. After multiple crabs and collisions in the last 250 meters, several of the Canadian crews crossed the finish line in the entirely wrong lane. Riverside also competed in the Dash for Cash with a mixed 8 winning gold as well as some swanky Regatta Sports gear. Tired but satisfied RBC left Saint Catharines feeling like Olympians…well not exactly but Border Patrol seemed convinced enough.
