After a week of intense training over the fall reading week, the Brock Badgers rowing team hosted the annual Brock Invitational Regatta on Saturday.
The Brock Invitational is an important day of racing in the fall university racing season, marking the first 2000m competition for most crews as well as acting as a seeding for the upcoming OUA Championships. Brock had a strong showing on their home course, confronting cold temperatures and gusty winds, and coming away with 5 gold medal finishes. Badger crews wore pink to show their support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
The first gold medal of the day for the Badgers was earned by Matt Finley and Dave De Groot in the Men's 2-. The men kept the momentum going, winning gold in the Men's 4+, consisting of Zak Lewis,
Scott Murphy,
Luke Gadsdon, Zachory Koroll and
Jamie Germond. The Men's 8+ had a second place finish. Racing the Men's 1x,
Will Bryden overcame broken equipment in his heat and placed a strong third in the final.
Taylor Ashwood and
Grayson Gray won gold in the Lightweight Men's 2x after an intense race.
James Myers earned a gold medal in the Lightweight Men's 1x, and
Jacob Thomas finished third in the same event. Both the Men's Lightweight 4+ and Men's Lightweight 8+ secured second place finishes.
On the women's side, Steph Mowder and Katharine Walker walked away with a gold medal in the Women's 2x after a impressive win over the rest of the field. Walker teamed up with
Jen Beaudette in the last race of the day to win gold the Lightweight women's 2-, while Mowder finished fourth in a close race in the Women's 1x.
After a long day of racing, a ceremony was held to christen a brand new rowing shell, a heavyweight men's 1x, that was generously donated in the name of former Brock Rowing coaches Peter Van Rooijen and Allison Carrier. The entire varsity team and coaching staff were present to express gratitude and appreciation. The longstanding success of Brock Rowing would not be possible without the generous support of alumni, donors and the rowing community.
Brock varsity crews are entering their final week of training leading up to OUA Championships next weekend, also to be held on their home course on Martindale Pond. The following weekend, select crews will represent Brock on the national stage at the Canadian University Rowing Championships in Lochaber, Nova Scotia. Congratulations and good luck to all crews!
