Gold and Semi-finalists at the Canadian High School Rowing Championships
Local high school crews from Valley Heights and Port Dover advanced to the semi-finals while Laura Fisher of Holy Trinity won gold at the 61st annual Canadian Secondary School Regatta Association Regatta in St. Catharines on the weekend
Laura Fisher advanced to the semi-finals by winning her heat in the Senior
Women’s Single event on Friday and placed second in the semi-final on Saturday
to advance to the Sunday finals.
In the final, Fisher placed first with a convincing nine second lead over a
sculler from Crofton House British Columbia.
Meanwhile, Valley Heights’ Senior Women’s 63 kg Cox Four of Karla Martens, Val Montrose, Christine Atchison, Emily Main and Ricky Giesbrecht were second in their heat on Friday with a time of 8:41.44 to advance to the finals. Valley Heights placed fifth in their semi-final on Saturday ending their run for the finals.
Ross Fairley of Port Dover CS did not make
weight for the Senior Men’s 72 kg Single but fortunately was also entered in the
Senior Men’s Heavy Single event.
A lightweight competing against heavyweights, Fairley won his heat with a time
of 7:33.94 to advance to the semi-finals.
However, the bigger competition proved too strong for Fairley in the semi-final
where he placed fifth and failed to advance to the finals.
The Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association is the second largest high school regatta in North America. This year over 2,500 athletes from 150 high schools drawn from across Canada and the United States competed. For Fisher, it confirmed she is the North American high school champion in the Senior Women’s Single event. According to Mike Thompson, Canada’s National Junior team coach, “The race represented a significant individual accomplishment for Laura.”
Local high schools had a total of eleven crews entered at the Canadian championships including the Senior Men’s Heavy Cox Four and Senior Men’s 72kg Cox Four from Valley Heights, the Junior Men’s Heavy Double and Senior Men’s Heavy Quad from Simcoe Composite, the Junior Women’s Single, Senior Men’s 72kg Single and Junior Men’s Heavy Double from Holy Trinity and the Junior Women’s Heavy Double from Port Dover.
According to Jim Dover Past President of the Silver Lake Rowing Club, “All of our rowers, coaches and volunteers should be proud of our showing this high school rowing season. We’ve medaled at all three of North America’s top high school regattas. Rowers of this caliber don’t develop overnight. It’s a result of a significant commitment by rowers and volunteers over a period of several years.”
For more information related to the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Regatta, please visit: http://www.cssrarowing.ca/