The weather did its best to mess with the Maple Bay Rowing Club’s annual regatta on April 9, with chilly winds roiling the waters of Quamichan Lake, but despite a few delays, every scheduled race was contested.
“It was a nice, busy day, although it was a little bit interrupted by wind,” said Andrew Rae, who was overseeing his first regatta as the club’s head coach.
Nine clubs took part in the event, ranging from Victoria City, with 56 entries, to Salt Spring Island Rowing Club, with seven. About 250 rowers competed in all.
“It was a good, successful weekend for all clubs involved,” Rae commented.
The MBRC had 35 entries in total. The regatta was the first or second event for most of the club’s novice rowers, who experienced a lot of success, but it was more of a “mixed bag” for the senior athletes, Rae said.
Among the highlights for the MBRC, Anya Prokopchuk placed first in the women’s U17 single; Sierra Preikshot and Ashley Pepper finished first in the women’s U15 double; and Sadie Wood, Ava Roe, Sierra Preikshot, Ashley Pepper and cox Bradaigh Bridger-Taft took first in the women’s U15 coxed quad.
Koen Hales, Oliver Mackenzie-Kissinger, Trevin Buckland, Bradaigh Bridger-Taft and cox Agata Minka were second in the men’s novice coxed quad; Emma Dingelday and Agata Minka placed third in the women’s U17 double; and Sadie Wood and Ava Roe finished third in the women’s U15 double.
Crews from Brentwood College School placed first in the U17 men’s eight, men’s lightweight quad, and women’s U17 eight. Gunnar Platt of Shawnigan Lake School placed first in the men’s U18 single.
Up next for the MBRC and many of the other clubs who competed on April 9 is the 50th Brentwood Regatta in Mill Bay on April 29-May 1.