Local Rowers a Force to be Reckoned With

Port Dover CS, Holy Trinity, Simcoe and Valley Heights rowers proved on the weekend they are a force to be reckoned with this rowing season. Competing in a field of over 125 rowers drawn from 23 Niagara region and southwestern Ontario high schools, local crews advanced to the finals in 14 of the 17 events at the Silver Lake Invitational High School Sprints held in Port Dover.

At the end of the day, local crews won six gold medals and placed second in eight events. Saunders Secondary School of London won the Jenna Stark Memorial Trophy for total points and Eden Secondary School of St. Catharines won the Efficiency Award. Although a relatively small rowing program compared to other schools, Port Dover CS rowers placed second in total points and second in the efficiency award rankings. According to Coach Susan Fairley, “The results today show sculling has become our Club’s strength.”

Port Dover won gold in the Senior Men’s Single, Junior Women’s Single and Mixed/Open Double while Holy Trinity won gold in the Senior Women’s Single and Senior Women’s Double. SCS won gold in the Junior Men’s Single. Valley Heights placed second in the Senior Men’s Cox Four while Holy Trinity placed second in the Mixed Open Cox Four and Mixed Open Double. SCS placed second in the Senior Men’s Pair, Junior Men’s Double and Senior Men’s Single. Port Dover placed second in the Senior Men’s Double and Junior Women’s Cox Four.

The Silver Lake Sprints is one of the first regattas of the high school rowing season and has become a popular regatta for novice high school rowers. According to Cam Stone Coach of Thorold Secondary School, “My rowers love the excitement of the Sprints. I like the opportunity this regatta provides - to get them as much racing experience as possible. They had the option to go elsewhere this year but they heard what a good time we had last year and wanted to come. We’ll be back.”

Throughout May, local crews will be competing at high school regattas held in St. Catharines, London and Welland in preparation for the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Regatta held in St. Catharines during the first weekend in June.

The Silver Lake Rowing Club was established in 1999 to promote the sport of rowing across Norfolk and Haldimand counties. Coach Susan Fairley (583-0461) of Simcoe CS and Port Dover CS as well as Larry Wiebe of Valley Heights (586-7307) and Sony Bedic of Holy Trinity (428-2018) can be contacted regarding more information related to racing. To find out more about the Silver Lake Rowing Club, please call Jeff Miller (President) at 443-8338, Jim Dover at 426-5677 (Past President) or visit our web site at  www.silverlakerowingclub.com.