The Vikes men’s and women’s crews enjoyed a successful return to the water, competing on their home water in some less than ideal conditions at the Elk Lake Spring Regatta March 4 and 5.
Forced to train indoors through a colder-than-normal winter that saw Elk Lake freeze over for the first time in recent memory, the Vikes were finally able to get back onto the water for the regatta that featured top competition from both the university and national team ranks.
With the Vikes participating in more events than usual to try and get in as many racing opportunities as possible, they were unable to focus on certain events in the way that they usually would, but still managed to battle through the fatigue for some results.
The medals piled up for the Vikes women. The quad crew of Avalon Wasteneys, Maxine Chapman, Jessica Phillips, McKenna Simpson and coxswain Becky Wilder captured gold in the Open A final. Finishing right behind their teammates in second-place were Maia Christian, Rebecca Kingston, Alanna Ward, Rachel Kalkman and coxswain Cassidy Fernandes. The lightweight double of Rebecca Kingston and Alanna Ward also crossed the line in first-place.
The lone gold medal of the regatta on the men’s side was in another race that saw the Vikes finish both first and second. The annual Hammer vs. Sickle race, which sees the men’s eight boat split into fours, with the bow and stern pair in one boat racing against the middle of the eight in the other boat, went the way of the Sickle. Mark Davies, Brett Larson, Lucien Brodeur, Adam Donaldson and coxswain Bailey Kulman were able to pull away from William James, Ty Adams, Travis Gronsdahl, Daan Arscott and coxswain Katerina Lyons for the win. Also finishing highly for the men were Christopher Clarke and Idjen Cabral, able to grab third in the lightweight men’s double.
“With the regatta focused on development and small boats I thought we put together some outstanding performances.” said Vikes men’s head coach Aalbert Van Schothorst.
The women finished second and were just unable to pull even with the boat from the University of British Columbia. High winds hampered the men’s eight but they were able to claw their way back from a rocky start to finish in third place.
Vikes Patrick Keane, Taylor Perry and Caileigh Filmer pulled double duty over the weekend, also competing as members of the Rowing Canada National Training Centre.