Brentwood College will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its storied rowing history this weekend in its annual international regatta. Organizers are re-creating the first race in school history, a 500-metre fours race on Mill Bay between Brentwood College and the UBC Thunderbirds in 1924.
What followed wasn’t too bad with Brentwood College Olympic-medallist alumni such as Dave Calder, Malcolm Howard, Scott Frandsen, Darren Barber, Blair Horn and Sydney Payne following in the wake of that first race in 1924. Howard won Olympic gold at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012, Calder and Frandsen silver at Beijing 2008, Barber gold at Barcelona 1992, Horn gold at Los Angeles 1984 and Payne gold at Tokyo 2020. They all got their start on the 1,500-metre course in the bay, just off the docks on campus.
“Very few of our rowers will go on to the Olympics, of course, but just knowing the tradition and that so many great Brentwood rowers before them started here and got to the Games and won medals is a powerful thing for them to feel,” said Calder, who has returned to the school and is in his second year as head coach of rowing at Brentwood College.
That first race in 1924 will be commemorated Friday at 1:30 p.m. with a Brentwood College four consisting of Jed Grieve, committed to the NCAA with the University of Washington Huskies, Finn Dahlstrom, Will Hawkins, Marcus Hogan and coxswain Sienna Gulevich going up against a UBC coxed four that will include Brentwood College graduates Axel Ewashko and Alec Doward.
That will be followed by more than 1,200 rowers from 23 schools and clubs, including 14 from the U.S., racing in the 52nd Brentwood International Regatta from Friday to Sunday.
“Our whole school is involved in the regatta with our music students playing during the races, our business students running the food concessions and our visual arts students putting on a display of their best works,” said Calder.
“Rowing is the focal point but there is so much else surrounding it.”
The host school will be putting up strong challenges in the racing.
“Almost all of our Grade 12 rowers will be going on to university rowing in Canada or the U.S,” said Calder.
Graduating Brentwood College rowers committed to NCAA Div. 1 schools are Grieve to Washington, Sam Kronis to Portland, Annika Maiorino to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, Anya Prokopchuk to the University of Pennsylvania and Florence Therrien to the University of Connecticut Huskies.
