The Western Canadian Beach Sprint Championships were held on Saturday, June 20th and Sunday, June 22nd at Cadboro Bay in Victoria. It had a record 57 entries from 20 clubs across Canada and the USA. Fantastic! Although we had some marginal weather, all the athletes seem to have had fun and raced hard.
Friday
The weekend started with a training camp on Friday, June 19th for the U23 gals who were attending a longer camp in classic rowing on Elk Lake. Katie Steenman brought the athletes from her camp to Cadboro Bay along with a few others. Apparently a few of the athletes had never sculled before, just swept so this was an eye opened on many levels. Katie reviewed the rules and talked about how to enter and exit the boats after a run. She also outlined the importance of the boat handlers and the best way to help the racing athlete by giving directions.
It all started slowly and there was lots of laughter as the athletes did their best to make a fast entrance into the boat – not to mention that pesky exit when tired after racing.
Saturday
The first day of the regatta and the focus was on solos (as singles are called in coastal rowing). Time trials ran in the morning to seed the athletes for the competition later in the day. Lots of events including for Juniors, Open category and Masters. The weather in the morning was challenging due to the cold and wet. Fortunately the sun came out in time for the finals.
OARCA came out first in 3 of the 5 events on Saturday – Womens Masters C1x, Womens Open C1x and Mens Open C1x. Gorge Narrows took the Mens Junior C1x and VCRC the Mens Masters C1x. So lots of great racing throughout the day.
A cold start
Winners of the Men’s Open Solo!
For boat handlers & athletes it was wet & cold.
Tate modelling his new OARCA uni.
The weather improved in time for the finals
Umpires wanting to get in on Tate’s action.
Here Piper is demonstrating how to win the Women’s Open Solo. Run and jump into the boat. Race hard and then get out of that boat to race to finish. Dive to press the buzzer before your competitor gets there. Finally celebrate together.
Sunday
Today was for doubles events. Not as many entries so we finished just before 1pm. Gorge Narrows dominated the day, winning the Women’s Junior C2x, the Women’s Masters C2x, the Men’s Masters C2x and the Mixed Masters C2x. The Mixed Open C2x was won by a composite crew of OARCA and Maple Bay. A great day for all!
It was then time to pack up and make sure the beach was restored to its original state. All the tents, buoys, tables, chairs, electronics and so on had to be returned. Many thanks to Gorge Narrows for loaning us so much gear including floater suits for volunteers on Saturday when it was so cold and wet. VCRC & VRS loaned us buoys and weights plus chairs etc. We had tents from Gorge Narrows, Rowing BC and RCA. Plus lots of additional gear support from each that is too numerous to mention. It really took a community of rowing clubs and organizations to put on this regatta. We are so very grateful.
Returning all the gear meant finding a way to load it into cars and trucks. The overall winner was Keith’s truck that took an unbelievable amount of stuff. More and more just kept getting loaded!
All in all a great event. Many thanks to all the athletes, volunteers, officials and the organizing committee for making this such a successful regatta.