LOCAL ROWERS CANADIAN FINALISTS

Eryk Taylor and Ben Auld from Simcoe Composite placed fourth in the finals of the Junior Men’s Double event at the Canadian Secondary School Regatta Association Championships on Sunday.

Taylor and Auld had won their heat on Saturday with the second fastest time overall to advance to the final. Taylor had also advanced to the final in the Junior Men Single event with a third place finish in his heat and the fifth fastest time overall. Taylor raced in the single event first on Sunday placing sixth overall. In the double event, Taylor and Auld narrowly missed medalling being only two boat lengths back from third place.

According to Head Coach Sue Fairley “All of our athletes made the best of a bad situation with the draining of Silver Lake. Eryk and Ben are our first juniors, in a few years,  to advance to the finals at the Canadian Championships and Zac narrowly missed advancing to the finals in what turned out to be a very close field in the Men’s Senior 72kg event. It leaves us wondering what more we might have been able to achieve under different circumstances.”

Caleb McCleary of Burford who started rowing with the Silver Lake Rowing Club’s youth rowing program and competed with the club for one summer season competed at the Canadian Championships with Shawnigan Lake School where he is attending one of Canada’s prestigious private schools on a rowing scholarship. McCleary won silver in the Junior Men’s Cox Four event and advanced to the finals in the Junior Men’s Double.

The Canadian Secondary School Regatta Association Championships have been held annually for 65 years in St. Catharines. This year over 2500 rowers from approximately 130 high schools drawn from across Canada and the United States participated. The regatta marks the end of the high school rowing season.

According to Jim Dover President, Silver Lake Rowing Club, “Some of our athletes have been invited to join Niagara Region rowing clubs for the summer given the current situation with Silver Lake. But we’re going to do our best in boating some crews for the club rowing season. We just may have a surprise or two.”

For more information regarding the Canadian Secondary School Regatta Association Championships visit: http://www.cssrarowing.ca

Picture from left to right: Ben Auld, Chaundra Monorome, Eryk Taylor, Zac Azzopardi, Sue Fairley (Head Coach), Samy Fairley (Assistant Coach) and Tyler Wilson (Assistant Coach)

The Silver Lake Rowing Club was established in 1999 to promote the sport of rowing in Norfolk County and surrounding communities. For information regarding high school rowing contact Susan Fairley (519-583-0461). To find out more about the Silver Lake Rowing Club, please call Jim Dover President, Silver Lake Rowing Club (905-318-5932 ext. 224 / 519-426-5677) or visit our web site at: www.silverlakerowingclub.com.