In January, the organizers of the 10th annual Head of the Fort rowing competition in Fort 91原创 decided to change the event date, moving it a week later than originally planned.
It was a good call.
The weather conditions on Saturday were sunny and warm, perfect for the regatta held on the Bedford Channel by the rowing program.
鈥淲ow鈥 said UFV rowing program head coach Liz Chisholm.
鈥淎ren鈥檛 we lucky? It鈥檚 funny because we鈥檝e had so much ice, and cold, cold, weather and rain. We actually were slated for last weekend, and in January we made a decision to move it to this weekend.鈥
The event featured junior, university and Masters crews competing on a 6.5-kilometre course.
Competitors came from all over the Lower Mainland, including the Simon Fraser University men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams.
One team came from Seattle.
鈥淓verybody loves this race,鈥 Chisholm said.
鈥淭hey love the way the students enjoy themselves.鈥
She said visiting teams also like the 鈥渧alet boating鈥 service to help rowers navigate the extra-steep ramps down to the water when they carry their boats to the water.
鈥淚ts quite nerve-wracking,鈥 Chisholm said.
鈥淪o we 鈥榲alet鈥, we take over for them, and help them with their boats down and back up the ramp.鈥
This year鈥檚 Head of the Fort had three launches 鈥 at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. with boats sent off every 20 seconds.
Crews raced east, keeping to the starboard shore, with slower crews expected to allow faster boats to pass.
The UFV Cascades were represented by four women鈥檚 and three men鈥檚 boats, plus a pair of alumni boats (a men鈥檚 four and men鈥檚 eight).
Highlights for the host Cascades included a first-place finish (by raw time) for Erin Steele in the women鈥檚 single (29:08.96).
It was just the second time Steele had competed in the single 鈥 the first being the previous weekend at the Elk Lake Sprints in Victoria.
Mitchell Wierks and Clayton DeVries were third in the men鈥檚 double.
Complete race results can be found online at .
Since Chisholm began the UFV rowing club in 2001, under her coaching, six former Cascades have been selected to represent the province at the National Rowing Championships, four have been sent to Rowing Canada鈥檚 national development team, and two represented Canada at the 2013 U23 World Championship and 2014 Pan Am Games.
The most decorated graduate of the program is 91原创 resident Lisa Roman, who became the Cascades鈥 first-ever Olympian in the summer of 2016, earning selection to the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Roman and fellow 91原创 resident Kristin Bauder helped Canada to a silver-medal showing at the 2017 rowing world championships in Sarasota, Fla.
Roman has won multiple international medals in the women鈥檚 eight.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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