Gold at St. Catharines

Having helped eliminate hundreds of crews through Friday’s heats and Saturday’s semi-finals, 8 Brentwood shells took to the water on Sunday in the finals. High noon found both the junior men and junior women’s eights on the water for back-to-back races. In a ten-minute span, in drama that could not have been better written by Shakespeare, both eights brought the grandstands to their collective feet. As the junior boys were receiving their medals for a brilliant, hard-fought, down-to-the-wire gold medal finish, the junior girls, not to be upstaged, crossed the finish line a mere 6 feet in front of their closest opponents. Although the spectators knew that Brentwood had won, the finish was so close that the girls did not know until the formal announcement. In junior rowing’s most prestigious events, 18 young Brentwood rowers eloquently stated that “The Future” had arrived. The junior women 4 of Emily Johnston, Addie Backer, Megan Griffiths, Stephanie Ridenour and Deirdre Huestis took to the water again later in the afternoon to capture a second gold medal. The junior boys 4 of Alex Carr, Adam Galbraith, Dan Robinson, Cam Robinson and Mark Zhong also threw themselves into the fray of a second race, but did not have the reserves to capture a second medal. Becca Holland and Quinn Erickson, teaming up for the senior double, had a terrific race, fighting off a stiff challenge through the third 500m to capture a bronze medal. In other double racing, Alejandro Sadurni and Greg Willock rowed admirably, but did not crack the medals. Like the junior eights, the senior women and men’s eights also competed in back-to-back races. In the feature races of the day, both crews came down the course with long, proficient, vigorous strokes and although they did not crack the medals, both were the third fastest Canadian crews. They also earned the club sufficient points to vault us into 3rd place in both the women's and the overall points competitions in a year that many saw as one of rebuilding for the club. This speaks volumes about the dedication and effort of this group of athletes. The Brentwood Rowing Club should take great pride in the excellence and depth displayed during this week’s regatta. We were the only club to earn spots in the finals of all four heavy eights: women and men, juniors and seniors. The skill displayed by the performances of our scullers also shows that small boats skills are being nurtured at the highest levels. It also augurs well for next fall’s varsity trips to the Head of the Charles in Boston in October.

Junior Women 8+

Junior Men 8+

Senior Women 8+

Senior Men 8+

Emily Johnston

Addie Backer

Megan Griffiths

Stephanie  Ridenour

Deirdre Huetsis

Siobhan Willow

Amy Harman

Danielle Touche

Erika Schultz

Alex Carr

Dan Robinson

Adam Galbraith

Sal Cannatella

Cam Sutherland

Mark Zhong

Ben Coull

Greg Willick

Jordan Willie

Lauren McKallor

Brooke Huestis

Becca Holland

Mary Johnston

Natasha Hollingsworth

Mira Glesby

Stephanie Doane

Claire Meloche

Claire Rawlinson

Dan Thompson

Colin Gilbert

Dan Munsell

Taylor Rempel

Fraser Crowley

Will Hindson

Andrew Butler

Dan Brink

Steve Schultz