Silver Lake Crew Finals at Royal Canadian Henley

 The Silver Lake Rowing Club made history on the weekend at the Royal Canadian Henley with the Junior Men’s Quad advancing to the final. According to coach Sue Fairley, “We’ve had two single scullers advance to the finals at the Henley in the past but never a crew of four!” 

The 124^th annual Royal Canadian Henley Regatta is North America’s largest regatta with crews from across the continent coming to compete for coveted Henley gold. Ross Fairley, Robbie Puddy, Terry Lovegrove and Jeff Puddy with Tim Haviland as spare won their first heat by narrowly beating a crew from the London Rowing Club. In the semi-final, Silver Lake earned third by beating the Gorge Rowing Club from British Columbia by less than a second to advance to the final.  According to Assistant Captain Jim Dover, “They rowed a strong, disciplined race and made a smart strategic move by starting their sprint to the finish a bit earlier than expected. They had absolutely nothing left in the tank at the end.” In the final, the Junior Men’s Quad ended up 6^th overall out of 23 entries.

 The Junior B Women’s Quad made up of Chantelle Lemoine, Kelsea Parker, Hannah Anderson and Samy Fairley narrowly missed making it two crews to the finals by finishing fourth in their heat with three to qualify. At the end of the regatta, the Junior B Women’s Quad placed seventh out of twelve entries.

 Ross Fairley also competed in the Junior Men’s Single. After winning his heat with the 10^th fastest time out of 55 entries, Fairley placed fifth in the semi-final and failed to advance further. Anna Ardiel also competed in the Senior B Women’s Single event but failed to advance. According to Coach Sue Fairley, “Had Anna been in three other heats, she would have advanced to the final. She simply drew a very competitive heat.”

 Photo 1 left to right: Ross Fairley, Terry Lovegrove, Robbie Puddy, Jeff Puddy, Tim Haviland 

For more information regarding the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta visit: http://henleyregatta.ca

 The Silver Lake Rowing Club was established in 1999 to promote the sport of rowing across Norfolk and Haldimand counties. Coach Sue Fairley (519-583-0461) can be contacted regarding more information related to racing. To find out more about the Silver Lake Rowing Club, please call Bruce Gibson (519-842-6543) or visit our web site at: www.silverlakerowingclub.com.