Top rowers saluted at Captain’s Dinner
The junior men’s pair of Andrew Allan and Mitch Rodgers was the St. Catharines Rowing Club’s crew of the year for 2017.
The award, which was presented by Clay Brown, a club member who was part of the men’s eight that represented Canada at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, was among the highlights at the annual Captain’s Dinner.
Eric Buchanan and Caley Firth were the senior oarsman and oarswoman of the year, while Alex Powell and Alyssa Toffolo earned the same honours in the senior B class.
Top athletes in junior A were Rodgers and Grace Humphrey and in junior B, Andrew Barry and Isobel Frolick.
Nicholas Murray-Coplen went home with the award as the coxswain of the year.
Janet Lancaster was 2017’s master oarswoman of the year, and Carl MacCulloch was honoured as the top volunteer.
Upcoming club events include the Early Bird Regatta, Sunday, April 29; Try-It Day, Sunday, May 6; Head of the Martindale, Saturday, May 12; and Mother’s Day Regatta, Sunday, May 13.
It was announced at the awards banquet that the club will be getting a $67,200 capital grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation for equipment upgrades.
With the funding, six eightperson rowing shells will be completely retrofitted and upgraded during the off-season. The boats will be used mostly for the club’s Youth Rowing School and Adult Recreational Rowing League.
The shells are expected to be ready for the opening of the 2019 season.
“The upgraded boats will ensure that St. Catharines athletes have the opportunity to learn and row in the best of most up-to-date equipment possible,” rowing club president Michelle Kerr said.