The Head of the Trent regatta marks the start of true fall rowing with frigid temperatures, and in its 45th year, it lived up to expectations.
The Marauders fielded boats in 18 of the day's events with many crews finishing top five in their events. The singles started the day off early in the morning pushing hard through the open, choppy water and then making moves on boats in the sheltered stretches. Aubrey Oldham raced the club single, finishing fourth in a time of 20:10.75, followed by Karl Zimmermann in the next race finishing third with a time of 19:34.69. In the women's single, D'Arcy Arends finished in a time of 23:08.5, holding strong just a few seconds off of Guelph's medal finish.
The next division launched with the men's fours and double making their way up the winding 5km course. The heavyweight four of Kaitlyn Akitt (cox), Erik Bertram (stroke), Michael DiDonato, Logan Madill, and Jordan Stevenson (bow) came in ninth with a time of 20:20.79, while the lightweight boat of William Staples (stroke), John Butler, Cole Creaney, Ben Macphail (bow), and Jacqueline Watt (cox) finished sixth in a time of 19:35.27. Tredon Simon (stroke) and Ben Anthony (bow) rowed the heavyweight double to a seventh place finish in 21:51.57.
Division three sent the women's fours to the start for the club race. The lightweight boat of Jessica Hill (stroke), Brynley Hanson-Wright, Myma Okuda-Rayfuse, Sarah Zhou (bow), and Alina Barnett (cox) moved up on other crews through the gusts, passing four boats before the cannel to finish fourth in a time of 20:59.34. The heavyweight four of Kristen Power (stroke), Annemarie Van Halteren, Megan Wurtele, Emma Hemsley (bow), and Kennedy Hao (cox) came in sixth with a time of 22:12.63.
The men's lightweight eight had a good race coming sixth in time of 17:30.18. They maneuvered well as they walked down Carleton, and had a solid push in the final leg of the race. The heavyweight eight passed Toronto right before the canal, landing them fifth overall in a quick time of 16:46.94.
D'Arcy Arends and Yasa Ibragimova, in the women's double, came out strong for a fourth place finish. They crossed the line in 22:24.58 with a thirty-second lead over the other nine crews in the race. The women's fours took to the water again in the afternoon, this time in the university division. The heavyweights finished in 22:19.91, almost matching their morning time despite stronger head winds to battle through, bringing them to an eighth place finish.
This regatta is the largest headrace in North America with over 1200 people rowing the course during the day to represent 50 different universities and rowing clubs. Watching novice crews as the final event of the day has become a tradition at Trent's homecoming. The canal under the bridge is lined with spectators as the new rowers come down the gauntlet of cheering teammates and students. McMaster's first novice men's boat of Mark Morton (stroke), Matthew Lauzon, Karlo Delalic, Daniel Mehrzadeh, Tyler de Jonge, Harminder Kang, Rob Armstrong and Brad Roughton (bow) came down the shortened novice course in a time of 15:24.41. They made a move on two boats as they reached open water after the canal to bring them into a fifth place. The first novice women's eight of Alina Barnett (cox), Michaela Verstraten (stroke), Bethany Anne, Michelle Kwong, Kiera Allen, Mady Francolini, Katie Monkhouse, Amy Foubert and Michaela Klasen (bow) matched this success, rowing calmly through the canal to a sixth place finish in 17:13.06. The second novice men's and women's crews finished with times of 17:12.58 and 22:31.81 respectively.
Between Thursday, October 8 and Saturday, October 10, a select group of Marauders will be competing at the National Rowing Championships, where they will be up against the best rowers in the country. After Thanksgiving, the rowing team will be spending the time off of school at training camp to prepare for the most important races of the season coming in the next weeks.
