Participants at the 2010 FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta in St. Catharines, Ont. rode the wave of earlier weather disruptions, to resume and complete today's schedule successfully.
"Despite our weather problems (yesterday's afternoon races were cancelled due to wind), I believe all the competitors left with a positive experience," said the local organizing committee co-chair, Phil Jones. "The feedback from the FISA Masters Commission and the athletes has been very good. All appreciated the hard-working and helpful volunteers and officials, and the overall organization of the regatta."
Jones also participated in the regatta, winning two races - the D category men's four and D category men's eight - of the four events he entered.
Masters crews are classified by age according to the following categories: (AA) 21 to 26 years, (A) 27 to 35 years, (B) 36 to 42 years, (C) 43 to 49 years, (D) 50 to 54 years, (E) 55 to 59 years, (F) 60 to 64 years, (G) 65 to 69 years, (H) 70 to 74 years, (I) 75 to 79 years, (J) 80 and over.
Today's schedule featured the mixed crews. The regatta started right on time, with a Western Rowing Club (London, Ontario) crew coming first in the first race of the day. The mixed D double of former National Team and current University of Western Ontario rowing coach Volker Nolte and former Canadian National Team rower Angie Schneider completed the 1000-metre course in 3:48.41.
"The race was really tough," said Nolte. "The lead was changing all the time, but it ended well."
Several Canadian Olympians from different eras were among the competitors on the Henley rowing course this weekend.
"I reunited with my straight four crew mates from the 1976 Olympics. Our first reunion was in Montreal in 2001. We then raced the Head of the Charles (in Boston) in 2003 and now in 2010 in St. Catharines," said Phil Monckton, Olympic bronze medalist (1984) and Rowing Canada Aviron VP High Performance. "Although we live in different cities, and train independently, we seem to be able to pull it together in short order."
Monckton - who rowed in the men's four in 1976 with Brian Dick, Andy VanRuyven, and Ian Gordon - entered in five races, and won them all. "This regatta is like a homecoming as we get to see our old teammates as well as athletes we competed against," he said today. "We enjoy the social aspect but we also like to go fast!"
The Masters Regatta includes not only former National Team rowers, but also those who are newer to the sport or who have been rowing Masters regattas for several years. The average age of the men competing this year was 54 and the average age of the women was 49.
Among the winners of today's mixed eight C event was Eric Pesta, 38, of the Greater Columbus Rowing Association.
"The race hurt a lot," said Pesta, who also rowed at the FISA Masters Camden, New Jersey, back in 2007, the last time the event was held in North America. "In the eight today, we were down a seat or two at the 500-metre mark, but we dug in deep and ended up winning by a couple of seats." This crew's finishing time was 3:20.61.
A mixed C eight from the Leander Boat Club (Hamilton, Ont.) also won its race in this event in 3:10.38. At the World Masters, there can be multiple winners in an event, depending on the number of entries.
Fifty-eight-year old Therese Bridges of the Tulsa Rowing Club, rowing with Bob Houston of the Dallas Rowing Club, won the mixed G double (the age category of a Masters crew is determined by the average age of the rowers in the crew).
"Our race went well after a false start (assessed to another crew)," said Bridges, who entered in seven events, and was celebrating her first win at this regatta in the double. "It was close at the 500 mark, but we did a 'power 20' and went for it."
There were many other exciting results that can be found on the regatta web site:
http://www.2010fisaworldrowingmasters.com/results.html
Even those who didn't win a race were happy with the regatta experience."It is always a good time," said Christian Toft-Sorensen of the Roskilde Roklub in Denmark. "It is very well-organized here."
"Many of the competitors came here with high expectations, and I believe this year's regatta met them," concluded co-chair Phil Jones.
Approximately 3,000 rowers from 34 countries participated in the World Masters Regatta this year. The 2011 World Rowing Masters Regatta will be held in Poznan, Poland.