[GRP Row]: Canadian Henley
GRP U23s win the BW4x. From left: coach Emma Taylor, Taylor English, Julia Batson, Rebecca Butler and Catie Castle.
A group of GRP and U23 rowers traveled to St. Catherines, Ontario for the 138th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta on Martindale Pond. Here is a look what happened each day of racing:
Tuesday: The week of competition starts off with Hannah Fitts placing third in her W1x heat (with the 5th fastest time across the 5 heats). U23’s Braeden Arthur and Caleb Nollenberger win their heat in the BM2x (the “B” denotes U23 class). Web Thompson wins his M1x heat. All athletes advanced to tomorrow’s semifinals.
Braeden and Caleb in the BM2x.
Wednesday: Hannah places 5th in her W1x semifinal and does not advance to the final. Caleb and Braeden win their semi and advance to tomorrow’s final. Web gets 3rd in a hard-fought M1x heat and misses advancing to the final by 0.05 seconds. The BM1x heats sees Caleb finishing 5th, Isaac Levinger placing 3rd, and Braeden winning, with Isaac and Braeden advancing to semifinals tomorrow. U23’s Taylor English and Julia Batson win their BW2x heat and also will race in Thursday’s semifinals.
Web in the M1x.
Thursday: Isaac places 5th in his BM1x semifinal and does not advance to the finals but he has "the best race I've ever had in the single" so is content. Braden finishes 2nd in his semifinal, qualifying for Friday’s final. The BW4x competition begins, with Taylor, Julia, Rebecca Butler, and Catie Castle winning their heat, earning a spot in Saturday’s final. Taylor and Julia also race in their BW2x semifinal, placing 2nd, and will compete in tomorrow’s final.
Friday: In separate BW1x heats, Julia places 2nd, Taylor 1st, Catie 1st, and Rebecca 2nd, all advancing to Saturday’s semifinals. Braeden finishes 4th in the BM1x final. In the BW2x final, Taylor and Julia place first!
Taylor and Julia enjoying a victory.
Saturday: In the BW1x semifinals, Catie places 1st, Julia 2nd, Taylor 2nd, and Rebecca 5th, with the first three women qualifying for Sunday’s final. Web, Caleb, Isaac, and Braeden put together a M4x, placing 2nd their heat. Hannah wins her WChamp1x heat with Web placing 4th in his MChamp1x heat. Taylor, Julia, Rebecca, Catie win BW4x final!
Sunday: In the final day of competition, the M4x team earns 4th in the final. Katie places 2nd in the BW1x final with Taylor placing 3rd and Julia 5th. Hannah Fitts is 3rd in the WChamp1x final.