LOCAL ROWER WINS GOLD AT AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Picture of the photo finish of the Junior Men's Single Semi-Final; Ross Fairley in foreground.

Laura Fisher of Holy Trinity won a gold medal and Ross Fairley of Port Dover Composite narrowly missed bronze at the 71st Annual Scholastic Rowing Association of America Championships held in Mercer New Jersey in the United States on the weekend.

Competing in a field of twelve high school entries from as far away as Florida and southern Ontario, Fisher won her heat convincingly to advance to the final in the Junior Women’s Single event. In the final, Fisher finished first - sixteen seconds ahead of second place. According to coach Sue Fairley, “Laura had to fight for the lead in the first 500 meters but continued to open water throughout the race. She knows she is going to face stiffer competition next weekend at the Canadian Championships. But this is a significant achievement and good preparation for next weekend.”

Ross Fairley had a tougher road to the final. Competing in a field of twenty five entries, Fairley placed third in his heat on Friday to advance to the semi-finals on Saturday where he placed second to qualify for the finals later the same day. “The semi-final was a barn burner! Ross rowed a classic race right to the wire capturing second place by a narrow three one hundredth of a second margin. I’m sure he’ll have a picture of that photo finish on his wall for a lot of years!” said Jim Dover President of the Silver Lake Rowing Club. In the final, Fairley placed fourth just three seconds out of third place.

According to Dover, the Scholastic Rowing Association of America Championships is held annually at a different location each year within the United States and is one of two major American high school rowing regattas that rival the size of the Canadian Secondary School Championships held annually in St. Catharines during the first weekend in June. “If you win both, you’ve earned the right to consider yourself a North American high school champion” said Dover.

Other crews from Valley Heights and Holy Trinity were to compete at the Western Ontario Secondary School Association Regatta held in London on the weekend. Unfortunately, bad weather led to the cancellation of the regatta.