Henley chair has ‘no regrets’ cancelling regatta
Border closures factored into decision to postpone 6-day event
To Peter Scott, it was almost a foregone conclusion the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta would not be taking place this year after organizers cancelled the national high school rowing championships.
The Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association (CSSRA) Regatta, once widely known as The Schoolboy, was cancelled in late March due to COVID-19. It had been set to take place on Martindale Pond in St. Catharines over three days beginning this Friday.
Henley was scheduled for Aug. 4 to 9 on the same water, as was the one-day Henley masters regatta, on Aug. 2.
“When they cancelled The Schoolboy, then I kind of knew it was inevitable the way things were going that Henley would be cancelled,” said Scott, who is in his seventh year as Henley chair. “We just can’t see crew boats being permitted on the water right now when there are only groups of five singles being permitted on the water, here in Ontario anyway.”
He said organizers of the international regatta that last year attracted seven rowing clubs from outside North America waited as long they could before postponing the 138th Royal Canadian Henley until August 2021.
“We left it for an eight-week window just to be safe and cautious,” Scott said.
That two-month window slammed shut this week when Henley was cancelled for the first time since the First World War.
Ongoing border closures factored into the decision, as did the need to maintain physical distancing and Ontario government restrictions on public gatherings.
“This is an international regatta. The border needed to be open,” he said.
“We would need a social gathering large enough to accommodate this in the province of Ontario.”
Scaling down the Henley to a Canadian championship for this year only was among options organizers considered before pulling the plug on the event.
“There were lots of ideas discussed around the table in our April meeting. That was one consideration, but we just thought that even the provincial borders are closed right now,” the regatta chair confirmed in an interview.
“So it wouldn’t even be a ‘national championship,’ for one, and it would only be singles.”
Trying to get volunteers — particularly, medical volunteers — would also have been “very difficult.”
Scott has “zero regrets” about the decision.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision, it was pretty much a slam dunk,” he said. “There was zero debate whether or not we were going to hold this regatta.
“We couldn’t do it safely, and we couldn’t do it the way that we built this regatta over the last 138 years.”
Scott said the rowing community is not the only one affected by the need to contain the spread of the virus.
“Everybody is taking it on the chin right now, and it’s just our turn,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world. We’ll just come back stronger next year, and next year will be a fantastic regatta.
“That I can guarantee.”
Scott is disappointed that young rowers just starting will miss out on the chance to compete this year.
“It’s just difficult for those kids because they haven’t raced yet,” he said. “It’s just difficult because I was one of those 14-year-old kids at Simcoe going into the school in November, December, January, February, March and working out every morning, and plowing snow to get into the school just so we could work out.”
Scott encouraged young rowers not to give up hope.
“Unfortunately, our numbers are going to be down in those who were born 14 years ago,” he said. “I would just like to encourage all those kids to stay strong and try to get on the water, and just come back strong for next season.”
Scott was offered an athletic scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania while rowing at Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines but wound up not attending the Philadelphia-based school.
“I did not accept it because I was a coxie at the time and, well, puberty hit and I became the large man that I am now,” Scott recalled with a chuckle.
“This is an international regatta. The border needed to be open. We would need a social gathering large enough to accommodate this in the province of Ontario.”
PETER SCOTT ROYAL CANADIAN HENLEY REGATTA CHAIR