Hosts tied with most medals after Day 1
St. Catharines Rowing Club races to fast start at Henley Regatta
The St. Catharines Rowing Club began defence of the efficiency trophy at Canada’s premier regatta by racing to two gold medals on its home course.
Nineteen finals in all went to the starting line at the 136th Royal Canadian Regatta Thursday and the host club struck gold in event No. 12.
Evan MacRae, Christian McAlpine, Johan May, Andrew Barry and coxswain Erynn Hutley combined to win the under-19 men’s coxed four and the W.A. (Al) Ward Trophy. Their winning time of 6:13.93 over 2,000 metres was 2.59 second faster than a crew Alumni Blue and 5.12 ahead of an entry from Saratoga.
Hailey Mercuri gave St. Catharines its second medal three races later with a win in the under-19 women’s single for the Alex Wilson Trophy.
Mercuri, a Grade 12 student at Grimsby Secondary School, won by nearly nine seconds, 7:41.63 to 7:50.61.
It was Mercuri’s second Henley gold in as many years and her second pace-setting performance at a national championship on Martindale Pond this year.
At last year’s Henley, she teamed with Gracie Leone to win the under-17 women’s double in a Ridley Graduate Boat Club entry. In June, Mercuri finished first in the senior women’s 63-kilogram single at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championships.
St. Catharines advanced eight boats in all to finals on the first day of gold-medal racing at the Henley this week, including two that rowed to second-place finishes.
A senior men’s lightweight four of Jacob Giesbrecht, Jacob Martens, Owen Voelkner and Eric Buchanan was 4.34 seconds off Argentina’s pace-setting time of 5:58.13.
St. Catharines’ under-23 lightweight women’s eight – Sarah Jan Mambella, Lauren Nuccitelli, Madeline Hingston, Olivia Jose, Hana Parkin, Evian Heyworth, Sara Stephenson, Alicia Piazza and coxswain Brooke Kew – trailed Vesper by 18.79 seconds, 6:27.77 to 6:45.53.
The host club’s other finishes in finals Thursday was one third, senior women’s eight; and three fourths, senior men’s pair, senior women’s double, under-19 women’s coxed four.
Kevin Keith of the South Niagara Rowing Club placed sixth in the under-23 men’s lightweight single.
The three other rowing clubs from Niagara Region – Niagara Falls, Notre Dame, Ridley Graduate – have yet to send a boat to a final.
Seventeen finals were on tap Friday and, weather permitting, 27 and 24 gold medals will be awarded Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Argentina and Vesper were tied with St. Catharines with tied with two gold medals each heading into racing Friday.
Unlike many other regattas, only gold medals are awarded at the Henley.