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Regatta tradition continues at Brentwood College

Racing concludes today with the finals from 7 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Brentwood College is again flashing its credentials as a Canadian rowing capital by hosting 1,250 athletes from 24 clubs in the 51st annual Brentwood International Regatta at Mill Bay.

Racing began Friday, continued Saturday and concludes today with the finals from 7 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

“The regatta is back up to pre-COVID numbers and that’s what we were aiming for,” said Brentwood communications and marketing manager Erin Coulson.

Fourteen of the competing crews are from the United States.

Rowers are a hardy bunch, known to make-do on the road, and 700 of the regatta competitors from off-Island have been sleeping in the school gym this weekend.

Brentwood College has had a fabled history in rowing with Olympic medallist alumni such as Malcolm Howard, Dave Calder, Scott Frandsen, Darren Barber, Blair Horn and Sydney Payne. Howard won 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.

Calder has returned to campus and is in his first year as head coach of rowing at Brentwood College, guiding the aspirations of the next generation of rowers in the program.

“There is a festival atmosphere and a lot of smiling faces this weekend,” said Calder. “This is the largest sporting event hosted by a single school in North America. We have a long tradition of rowing here and there was already great leadership. I’m not building from scratch.”

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com