Elk Lake Spring Regatta

Submitted by Brian Carr While everyone was leaving for a well deserved two-week spring vacation, there were twenty athletes from the rowing club who stayed behind to compete in the 35th annual Elk Lake Spring Regatta. This two day event is hosted by the University of Victoria and brings in crews from all over British Columbia and Alberta. Over the two days, the Brentwood athletes competed in 10 events finishing first in six, second in three and fourth in the other event. The Junior B boys missed the final in the double but fought a courageous race in the coxed quad, finishing second for their best result of the season. The crew was made up of Ian J, Tristan K, Brett L, Nicholas R and Harrison B. The Junior B girls made two entries in the Junior B doubles. Danica M and Stacey K came second in their heat and qualified for their final. Alia V and Tamyson C were in first in their heat but were pinched out of a place in the finals. In the finals, Stacey K and Danica M raced a perfect race and destroyed the field, winning by 13 seconds over the second place crew from Gorge. The senior girls programme consisted of two athletes: Adelaide B and Stephanie R. They were entered in two events: the Jr. A double and the Jr. A pair. As the only lightweights in a field of heavyweights in both races, they faced tough competition. In the doubles event, they qualified second from their heat and sixth overall. In a tight final, the girls finished 4th. Later in the afternoon the same two athletes raced in the final of the Jr. A pair. Again, the only lightweight pair in the event, the crew were very aggressive in the middle of the race and took the lead which they never relinquished, finishing first beating all of the heavyweight crews! The senior boys programme kept nine athletes behind to compete in all six Jr. A boys events. On Saturday they competed in the quad, single and pair. In the quad Evan M, Connor M, Martin B and Eric J led from start to finish to win first place. In the pair, Cameron Y and Jordan W, the only lightweights in the event, raced a gutsy race and finished second, five seconds behind the winning crew. Adam G and Evan M had some technical issues and finished sixth. In the Jr. A single, Connor M, Martin B and Eric J all won their heat. In the final Eric J took off from the start and never looked back winning in a time of 7:01. Our lone Junior B in the event, Martin B placed second and Connor M placed fifth. On Sunday the senior boys entered in the Jr. A double, eight and four. In the double Martin B and Eric J cruised to victory in their heat and then were pushed to the end of the race in the final to win the event. Alex C, the varsity coxswain was supposed to race on Sunday but was sidelined with pneumonia back home so was unable to race. At first we were going to slot in Adelaide B from the senior girls but Cameron V was on site watching his sister Alia V race in the Jr. B double. Cameron V was a two-time national champion coxswain with the Junior B crews last year so we asked him if he would fill in. He agreed and led our varsity crew to victory in the Jr. A eight by 0.4 seconds over Victoria City Rowing Club. The crew of Cameron Y, Adam G, Eric J, Connor M, Martin B, Jordan W, Ben C and Dillon H led from start to finish to win in a time of 6:02.8. An hour later, Cameron V, Adam G, Connor M, Ben C and Evan M raced to a second place finish seven seconds behind the winning crew. Considering this was a last minute entry with Adam G changing sides and Evan M having some medical issues during the race, this was a great result. During the Sunday events, Martin B was presented his award for being the National Ergometer Champion for Jr. B in Canada. I would like to thank Adam G’s mom May, Connor M’s mom Martha and Brett L’s mom Maree for hosting the boys over the weekend. The students are now on Spring Break but wait… Stacey K is off to the Rowing BC Spring Training camp and Adam G, Connor M, Martin B, Alex C and Eric J are off to Rowing Canada’s camp both taking place at Shawnigan Lake.