VICTORIA - High winds limited the two-day Elk Lake Spring Regatta event to Sunday-only activity, as the University of Victoria Vikes rowing program hosted the 38th annual meet this past weekend, Mar. 3-4.
Sunday morning featured an Olympic preview of racing as five Canadian crews and one UBC pair stormed down the lake with the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medallist pair of
Scott Fransden and
Dave Calder taking the victory in the open men's pair (1850-metres) in a time of 6:43.3. The third place crew was a boat with familiar UVic faces including alumnus
Kevin Light, in stroke seat, and up-and-comer
Kai Langerfeld in the bow. The crew of Light and Langerfeld finished in a time of 6:49.3 to take the bronze.
In the lightweight and heavyweight women's doubles, Claremont high school graduates Patricia Obee and Lindsay Jennerich, also a former Vike, cleaned up winning gold in both events. Obee and Jennerich are no strangers to the lightweight doubles, after Obee, at the age of 19, was called in to fill in for national team member Tracy Cameron, at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia. The pair came from behind to finish just behind Australia, good for second place and a qualifying spot at the 2012 London Olympic games.
Large crowds were on sight to watch the men's eight come down the water against a stiff head wind. RCA boats took the gold and silver, with an impressive winning time of 5:37.6, given the high winds. The Vikes fells short for third place behind rivals, the University of British Columbia, as the Birds took the bronze in a time of 6:03.7, eight seconds ahead of the UVic crew.
Though the Vikes fell short in the eight, the men did draw success winning both the lightweight men's double and the open men's coxed four.
On the women's side, the Vikes struck gold in the open women's eight event, with a time of 6:45.3, just ahead of the UVic novice boat that placed second in a time of 7:00.5.
The Vikes women added to their medal run with silver medal finishes in the open four and the open double, as well as a third place finish in the novice quad. In the open four, UBC took home the gold in a time of 7:51.7, while the RCA crew of Obee and Jennerich finished first in the open double (7:36.1).
The remainder of the events saw a fairly even distribution of victories for all the participating programs, including a newly-formed Camosun College crew.
The Vikes men's and women's rowing teams will now prepare for the Oregon State Dual meet set for Eugene, Oregon this coming weekend, Mar. 10-11.
