10 golds for St. Kitts rowers

Three rowing clubs from Niagara combined to win 20 gold and 60 medals overall at the RowOntario Championships that wrapped up Sunday in Welland.

Topping the medal standings at a two-day competition that attracted rowers from as far east as Ottawa and as west as Detroit was the St. Catharines Rowing Club, with 33 medals in all: 10 gold, 14 silver, nine bronze.

Tied with Toronto’s Don Rowing Club, with 15 medals overall; was the Ridley Graduate Boat Club: six gold, five silver, four bronze.

Host South Niagara earned 12 medals — four gold, four silver, four bronze — and finished the warmup to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in a two-way tie for fourth with the Peterborough Rowing Club.

The Niagara Falls Rowing Club and the Welland-based Notre Dame Rowing entered three and 16 boats, respectively, but neither won a medal.

St. Catharines’ regatta-high 10 golds were won in under-17 men’s coxed quad, senior men’s pair, under-19 men’s double, under-17 women’s single, senior women’s double, under-23 men’s quad, senior women’s lightweight four, senior men’s lightweight single, under-12 lightweight men’s pair, under-17 men’s double, under-19 women’s quad and under-19 women’s pair.

Gold-medal winning boats for Ridley were under-19 men’s double, under-17 women’s single, senior lightweight women’s single, under-17 women’s double, under-19 men’s quad and under-23 men’s lightweight single.

The under-19 women’s quad, under-19 men’s coxed four, under-17 women’s coxed quad and under-23 women’s coxed four each won a gold for South Niagara.

In all 27 clubs took part in a regatta held on the Welland International Flatwater Centre’s south course. Ottawa Rowing Club finished second overall with 24 medals: eight gold, nine silver, seven bronze.