The Rockies Rowing Club recently had three Cranbrook youth rowers compete at the Delta Deas Scholastic Regatta.
From May 25-26, the rowers from the local club participated in Delta competing in the U17 single, double and quad races — all of which were more than 100 meters.
Emily Sartorel, Erienne O’Grady and Nellie Flitz were all representatives of the Rockies Rowing Club and did them proud.
Sartorel came in third in her singles heat with a time of 4:49. Her race had six heats, with a total of 30 boats.
Flitz, an international student from Austria, teamed up with O’Grady in the novice U17 double. While it was their first race competing together, they rowed to a personal best of 5:06.
On the second day of action, O’Grady and Sartorel teamed together in the U17 2x, where they finished the 1,000 meters in five minutes — a personal best.
Up next, the Rockies Rowing Club crew took part in the quad race. They had to borrow a boat from Delta, and added a rower from Fort Langley for their race.
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The boat they raced in was named after Joy Ward-Fera, a Cranbrook raised athlete. Ward-Fera was a dual-sport athlete competing in alpine-skiing and rowing. She was on the 1976 Canadian rowing team when women were first allowed to row at the Summer Olympics in Montreal, as well she is co-founder of the Delta Deas Rowing Club.
The composite crew made up of Fort Langley and Cranbrook rowers ended up coming in third in their heat with a time of 4:22, which put them in the final. They had a common goal of beating the other crew from Fort Langley and to do the best they could.
In the final, the crew posted a time of 4:13, shaving nine seconds off their heat race time.
The next regatta Rockies Rowing will be attending is Lap the Lake Regatta in Vernon on June 8.
The club currently offers learn to row for locals in the area. More information can be found on their website.
