The 52nd annual Brentwood International Regatta was held over three days starting Friday, April 26. The event boasted more than a thousand racers, from two dozen rowing clubs, and all were forced to contend with weather delays and cancellations as is often the case for the famed spring regatta.
“The 52nd Annual Brentwood Regatta was a wonderful showcase for not only Brentwood, but the rowing community as a whole,” said regatta chair Spencer Manton. “We welcomed 24 clubs and 1,200 athletes to Brentwood’s campus over the course of the weekend and successfully ran 156 races. Every single event was able to have a run down the course! We look forward to welcoming back the rowing community next year to the 53rd Annual Brentwood Regatta.”
The host Brentwood College School had crews finish in the top six in 21 of their 40 races, medalling in 15 — up three medals from last year’s event when Brentwood was the top high school in the overall aggregate results, finishing second behind Seattle club team, and occasional training partner of the host team, Green Lake.
This year BCS won gold in eight events including: U19 Novice Women 8+, U19 Novice Men 8+, U19 Novice Men 4x+, U19 Lwt72 Men 2x, U19 Men 4+, School Eight Women, School Eight Men, and U19 Men 8+.
BCS earned silver in six events including the: U19 Women 4+, U17 Lwt72 Men 4+, U17 Women 8+, U19 Women 8+, U19 Lwt63 Women 4+, and U19 Women 2-.
The host school placed third in the U17 Lwt72 Men 8+.
Other top six results for BCS included fourth in the U19 Novice Women 8+, U19 Novice Women 4x+, U17 Women 4+, U19 Men 1x and the U17 Lwt63 Women 4+; fifth in the U19 Men 2; and sixth in the U19 Men 2-, U19 Men 4x-.
Overall, BCS placed first in the U19 grouping and second in the U17 grouping, giving the school the overall team first place, a feat last achieved by the school back in 2006.
Greek Lake Rowing Club and Victoria City Rowing Club were second and third respectively.
Maple Bay Rowing Club crews placed in the top six in three events.
The U15 Men 4x+ crew of Rylan Deck, Robert Lazenby, Reid Williams, Jordan Volk and Quinlin Campbell (cox) raced to second place while the U19W 2x boat featuring Delphine Koyote and Agata Minka placed third.
The U17 Women 4x+ featuring Sadie Wood, Ava Roe, Ashley Pepper, Sierra Preikshot and Amity Watt (cox) placed fifth overall.
“The weekend was a busy one and a successful one, and once again Brentwood put on a great show, despite some challenges from the weather and wind,” said MBRC coach Andrew Rae. “It is always a pleasure to attend the Brentwood Regatta, and the school do an amazing job of hosting athletes from not just B.C., but lots of American crews as well. It is always tough competition, and for a small club, Maple Bay performed exceptionally well across all our entries.”
Shawnigan Lake Rowing Club also took part, placing first in the U19 Men 2x and third in the U17 Women 2x and the U19 Women 4x-.
Shawnigan also placed fourth in the U19 JV Women 2x, U15 Men 4x+ and U19 Men 4x-, as well as fifth in the U19 JV Men 4x-and U19 Women 2x.