ROWING ROUNDUP: Western Invitational, Head of the Welland and Rideau Regatta

Brock rowing captures three medals at Western Invitational

The Brock Badgers rowing team battled a stiff headwind to start their season on a strong note this Saturday at the Western Invitational regatta, in London, Ont. The first OUA sanctioned regatta of the season combined a four-kilometre head race, and a 400 metre sprint. Gold Medal Standard, a percentage of their time compared to international standards, ranked crews in 27 different events.

Out of seven total entries, three Brock crews came home with medals. The day started off with Steph Mowder winning the women's varsity heavyweight single with a percentage of 69.05%, completing the head race in 18:32, and the sprint in 2:01. Anike Vanagas finished second with a percentage of 63.63%, with a head race time of 20:10, and a sprint time of 2:11.

In the men's 8+, the crew of David de Groote, Matthew Finley, Will Bryden, Matthew Wortley, Lucien Brodeur, Patrick Branch, Zak Lewis, Justin Buttigieg, and Earl Cabaluna finished first with a percentage of 77.20%, the highest of the day. This included a time of 12:50 in the head race, and 1:16 in the sprint. The crew defeated the defending national champions, Western University, by over 2%. The second Brock 8+ finished sixth in the event, posting a percentage of 67.6%.

The men's lightweight 8+ finished second in their event to Western, posting a percentage of 69.3%, and the women's 4+ posted a 68.9%, finishing second to Western.

The final event Brock was entered in, the lightweight women's 8+, came out victorious in commanding fashion. The crew consisting of Sarah-Jane Mambella, Samantha Augestine, Lauren Piedl, Katie Booth, Miranda Prekaski, Katie Ayres, Lizzie Fuller, Naseem Majzoubi, and Laura Court posted a 68.1%, beating second place McMaster by over 5%.

Source: Brock Badgers

Marauder rowing post promosing early result at Western Invitational

Early signs are overwhelmingly positive for the Marauder rowing team, which won three of the seven combined categories it entered at the Western Invitational regatta this past weekend.

The race in London was the first of the 2014 season for the Marauders, who have been training together daily since their varsity training camp wrapped up on September 3rd.

The Western Invitational is a two-part event in which crews race a 4000m course followed by a 400m sprint. The overall win is calculated from the results of both races,with a 10 times multiplier put on the shorter sprint.

Four Marauders entered the first event of the weekend: the singles. Drew Smith entered in the lightweight men's division, Rachel Dick competed in the lightweight women's race and Karl Zimmermann and Thomas Salciccioli were entered in the heavyweight men's class.

The singles crossed Fanshawe Lake together and all of the men lined up first. The race started with a high-rate sprint off the line, but quickly slowed to a more manageable pace. After five minutes, the pack had spread out and Zimmermann was in the lead group with Salciccioli close behind. Smith was holding his own with the lightweight group. As the course made a ninety degree right turn, Zimmermann pulled off the front and held the lead through to the line. The final results of the men's single put Zimmermann in first in 16:30.8, with Salciccioli in fourth at 18:30.1. Smith came third in the lightweight category with a time of 18:42.9.

Rachel Dick started with the women's group soon after the men, and cruised down the course for an uncontested victory in the women's lightweight single.

Next to go were the fiercely competitive doubles race. McMaster had three doubles: Will Staples (bow) and Paul Steneker (stroke) for the lightweight men, Keegan Travis (bow) and Treden Simon (stroke) in the heavyweight men's category, and finally, D'Arcy Arends (bow) and Aly Vogelzang (stroke) and Katie McGurk (bow) and Stacey Hepburn (stroke), both in the heavyweight women's double.

Once again, the men went off first, with Staples and Steneker coming second with a time of 16:10.6 in a very tight race. The Simon-Travis double fought two of the best crews in the country to place third in their event with a time of 16:37.4.

On the womens' side, Arends-Vogelzang won with a commanding performance in their long distance event, in a time of 17:48.9, while Hepburn-McGurk finishing third in 19:06.5.

Finally, McMaster entered a heavyweight men's eight of Jackie Watt (coxie), Davin Power (stroke), Erik Bertram, Michael DiDonato, Logan Madill, Ben Anthony, John Butler, Jordan Stevenson and Cole Creaney (bow). The Mac squad found themselves in an incredibly fast race with two crews from Brock and Western, who will likely be competing for the overall victory at the Canadian University Championships this November. But they put in a great showing with a time of 14:07.5 to place seventh.

The women's lightweight eight consisted of Stephanie Paoli (coxie), Erin Ross (stroke), Michelle Hayman, Amanda Hroncok, Jackie Bellemare, Angela Haufler, Sarah Zhou, Krystina McKay and Elle Rasmussen (bow). The women came finished second behind a Brock boat, crossing the line in a time of 18:03.20.

After the conclusion of the 4000m races, the winds started to pick up, so the 400m sprints were quickly started into a gruelling headwind.
In the heavyweight men's single, Zimmermann and Salciccioli placed first and second, with times of 1:42.2 and 1:44.6 respectively. This gave Zimmermann the overall win and ranked Salciccioli third.

Smith raced his dash in a time of 1:59.5 to place third in the overall mens lightweight single.

In the doubles, Staples and Steneker threw down a strong time of 1:35.7 to push them into first overall in the lightweight men's double, while Simon-Travis finished in 1:48.4 to finish third in both the sprint and overall standings in the heavyweight men's double.

Once again, Arends-Vogelzang and McGurk-Hepburn came first and second in the women's heavyweight double with times of 1:53.4 and 1:59.8 respectively. This gave Aly and D'Arcy the overall win in this category, with Katie and Stacey placing second.

The men's eight had an impressive sprint, with a time of 1:28.0 for fifth place, which pushed them into fifth overall.

The women's lightweight eight finished second in 1:49.8 for a second place overall.
At the day's conclusion, the Mac team brought home three medals from seven categories, an impressive feat for any school.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Giesbrecht golden at Western Invitational

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's and women's rowing teams opened their 2014 season at the Western Invitational on Saturday, September 20 in London, Ont.
 
Second-year rower Jacob Giesbrecht earned a first-place finish in the men's lightweight single, crossing the finish line in 16:47.8. 
 
Andrei Vovk also placed second in the men's lightweight single, while Matt Brander and Alex McElroy was second in the lightweight double.

Toronto's lightweight fours of Lauren Richardson, Jessie MacAlpine, Agnes Soos, Ennji Lee and cox Amy Kikuchi finished second, while the women's heavyweight eights of Lindsay Tetrault, Jackie Williams, Rebekah Sibbald, Camille Ligier, Louise Castonguay, Roxanna Dehghan, Brigid Burke, Hannah Musgrove and cox Emma Romano also earned the silver.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Brock rowers capture 24 medals at Five Bridges Classic

On a busy day at the Five Bridges Classic in Welland, the Brock rowing team captured a total of 24 medals. Leading the way was the combination of James Myers and Grayson Gray, who each won three medals. That includes races in the Mens' Open Lightweight 1x, in which Myers took first and Gray was a close second; the Mens University 4+, where Myers and Gray teamed up with Amy MacLean, James Potts, and Taylor Ashwood for a second place finish; and the Mens' Open Lightweight 2x, winning gold by over a minute.

Eight other crews won gold for Brock, giving them a total of 10 on the day. Stephanie Mowder was the lone Brock entry in the University Women's 1x race, however she held off three University of Ontario Institute of Technology boats, winning by over two minutes. In the University Men's 4+, the crew of David de Groot, Matt Finley, Luc Brodeur, Matt Wortley, and Earl Cabaluna bested the Brock lightweight crew by just eight seconds to claim gold. The Badgers also captured gold in the University Women's 4+, with Kate Aitken, Anike Vanagas, Katie Klassen, Taylor Iseppon, and Allison Knott teaming up to beat UOIT by close to two minutes.

Brock also had success in smaller boats, with the Men's 2x of Justin Buttigieg and Jacob Thomas, the Women's 2x of Stephanie Mowder and Katie Klassen, and the Women's Lightweight 2x of Emma Sheehan and Lindsay MacLean all winning gold.

The novice rowing season got underway this weekend, and the Badgers had their first taste of success. The women's novice 8+ won gold, while all other novice boats captured medals. Novice athletes have been training hard since the start of September, and will be competing every weekend this fall, concluding with the Ontario University Rowing Development Regatta on October 24th.

All crews will be in action next weekend, as the team travels to Trent University to compete in the Head of the Trent regatta.

Source: Brock Badgers

Mustangs have successful weekend in Welland

WELLAND, Ont. - The Western Rowing team travelled to Welland, Ontario this past weekend for the Head of the Welland regatta, winning the varsity heavyweight men's single, lightweight women's eight, and heavyweight women's eight events.
 
The regatta features a five kilometer race against time, with crews racing in intervals. The Mustang team sent their top athletes to compete in the varsity eights category and one in men's single.
 
Western was off to a successful start with heavyweight rower Adam Rabalski placing first in the varsity heavyweight men's single. Shortly following Adam was the lightweight women who won the varsity lightweight eight with an impressive 78 second lead over the next crew. The heavyweight women echoed the lightweight women's success winning the varsity heavyweight women's eight.
 
The varsity heavyweight men's eight and varsity lightweight men's eight ended the day competing against the strong Brock team. Western was successful in both events, with the varsity lightweight men putting on a impressive performance, only falling just short of the heavyweight men's time.
 
Saturday's regatta was the first of the season where all varsity eights raced as the team looks forward to what promises to be an exciting year. Next up for the rowing team is Head of the Trent, in Peterborough, Ontario.

Source: Western Mustangs

UOIT rowers haul in plenty of medals

WELLAND, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks rowing team had one of their most decorated days in program history at the Welland Invitational as they reached the podium five times.

Daria Ruginis (Burlington, Ont.) won two silver medals, as she placed second in the women's singles and doubles events. In the singles event, Ruginis finished the course with a time of 24:41.596, placing second just behind Brock University. Teammate Shelby Cohen (Oshawa, Ont.) was right on her heels as she placed third, earning a bronze medal. Later in the day, the duo teamed up and reached the podium for the second time as they finished in of 23:34.735, ten seconds ahead of a crew from Brock who place third.
 
Brett Bullock (Newmarket, Ont.) and Nik Vantfoort (London, Ont.) also earned a silver medal in the men's doubles event. The pair just missed out on a gold medal, finishing less than 12 seconds behind Brock with a final time of 19:20.188. Vantfoort also picked up a bronze medal in the men's singles event, edging out a Brock solo racer by 14 seconds. Bullock also raced in the singles event and finished in sixth place overall.
 
In a two boat race, the UOIT men's novice eight crew bested Brock by over a minute, claiming a gold medal. The crew consisted of Ian Ross, Chris Stoner, Braden Reid, Bradley Semenick, Nicholas Wright, Hasen Abbas, Nicholas Downey, Kelvin Lai and coxie Hafsah Hoda.
 
A week prior at the Western Invitational, Vanfoort picked up a second place finish in the men's singles race.

Source: UOIT Ridgebacks

Queen's claims overall title at Head of the Rideau Regatta

OTTAWA, Ont. (September 29, 2014) - In their first competition of the season, the Gaels won a host of medals to claim the varsity team overall title at the Head of the Rideau Regatta on Sunday.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Trent's men's and women's rowing teams also travelled to Ottawa this weekend to compete in Head of the Rideau Regatta. While official results for all Trent crews are pending there was plenty of great racing on the day. The men's varsity heavyweight single (Graham Peeters) took home gold, as did the men's varsity lightweight, and heavyweight doubles. Stay tuned for full results from the regatta later this week. Head of the Rideau is Trent's first regatta of the season, and a prelude to Head of the Trent: the largest single day regatta in North America.

Source: Trent Excalibur