Rowing BC Provincial Championships Recap

It was hot at Burnaby Lake July 12-14, on and off the water. “Feels like” temperatures were over 30 degrees as athletes from across BC, and visiting from Washington and California, came together for some quality competition on the 2K course.

With twenty clubs and over 250 entries, the Rowing BC Provincial Championships provided a lot of action throughout the weekend. Competition began with small boat Time Trials on Friday to seed crews into semi-finals. With all divisions (Open, Lightweight, U19, U17 and Para) all racing together, it provided opportunity for intense racing at every level. Once the small boat champions were crowned on Saturday, athletes combined into fours, quads and eights for Sunday’s races.

Over the weekend, thirty-three crews became BC Champions.

In the Men’s 1x, UVic’s Olver Howard-Batek took the Open and Lightweight wins. The U19 M1x champion was Jack Harris from Thunder. Hy Pollock from Vancouver Rowing Club was the U17 champion.

Elena Masyte, from UVic, was the Women’s Open 1x winner, while Simone Slipper picked up the Lightweight win. Victoria City Rowing Club’s Kate Watson was the U19 champion and Natalie Franke, from Thunder Crew, was the U17 champion.

Oliver Howard-Batek took home another double gold for UVic as he and his crewmate, Louis Ferraro won the Open and Lightweight Men’s 2x. Jack Harris proved his sculling prowess as he partnered up with David Orban to win the U19 M2x. The U17 M2x champions, Ryan Han and Nathan Martorella, were also from Thunder.

On the women’s side of the double sculls, Elena Masyte earned herself another gold with partner Sophia Regosa from UVic. The Lightweight winners were SFU’s Liberty Bailey and Lauren Gunster. The top U19 W2x was Thunder’s Marese Fletcher and Lucy Finlayson, while VRC’s Brett and Radke topped the U17 W2x. Para rower Amy DeWolff, from SFU Rowing Club, had a great personal performance in the PR2 W1x.

In the pairs, the Open Men’s champions were Gabriel Dyer and Conor Dillon from Uvic, while the U19 Men’s champions were Daniel Brekker and Kaden Carlson from VCRC. On the women’s side, talented rowers Lucy Hallett and Ciana Della-Siega from VCRC won both the U19 and Open races.

On “Big Boat Sunday” U19 athletes were given the opportunity to race coxed fours. Winners of the M4+ was Thunder Crew. The top women’s crew was Victoria City Rowing Club who will be racing together at the World Rowing U19 Championships later this summer in St. Catharines, Ontario.

In the straight fours, UBC took the win in the Women’s race, while UVic secured the win for the men.

Champions in the Women’s Quad divisions were UBC (Open), Victoria City Rowing Club (U19), and Thunder Crew (U17). In the Men’s Quads, Victoria City took the win in both Open and U19. Vancouver Rowing Club won the U17 division.

The final events of the regatta were the eights. University of British Columbia earned the title of Champion in the Men’s 8+. Champions of the Women’s eight was Victoria City Rowing Club.

Congratulations to all 2024 Provincial Champions! Photos of winners were posted on the Rowing BC Instagram account. And results can be found on Regatta Central.

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Always an important feature at a regatta, the concession this year had an added community feel to it. Run by the Simon Fraser University Rowing Club, who were also racing, the concession provided snacks to the hard-working volunteers and umpires, and offered goodies for sale to athletes and spectators. A percentage of the sales were donated to help SFU Rowing alumna and Olympic medalist, Krista Guloien who is undergoing expensive medical treatment as she battles cancer. You can still donate to her cause here.

As with any regatta, this event could not have happened without the hours and hours of volunteer time from the members of the Local Organizing Committee, the Rowing BC Umpires who volunteer their time, and the additional on-site volunteers. In particular, Andrea Lynch, Peter Gleadow, Bas Rijiersce, Michael Rascher, Sue Danne, and Mike Bagshawe were absolutely integral to the success of the regatta. Thank you!

Thank you also to club who traveled from across BC and to our visiting American clubs who did the long haul!

See you all again next year!