Rowers make international winning waves

Local Sports
Posted By EXAMINER STAFF

The Peterborough Rowing Club made an international splash at the FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta in St. Catharines.

Seventeen members competing in the weekend international regatta which featured 34 countries and more than 3,000 rowers.

Despite battling high winds and rain delays all weekend, PRC's first race proved to be a winner as the men's coxed four -- John Nelson, Mike Neary, Brian Love and Dave Lienert -- and coxed by Grace Cullen powered down the course to first-place finish in a time of 3:26.

Lienert went on to win a double race with Robert Shearer on Saturday. Also picking up a medal for the PRC on Saturday was the men's straight four rowed by Matt McCarthy, Larry Beattie, Christan Tuters and Scott Bishop who won their race with a time of 3:10.

The women's quad crew of Carol Love, Bev Quirt, Krista Saunders and Diane Barr finished second in very rough water behind a strong American team.

The women's 8 (Jen Marsh, Diane Barr, Nancy Fischer, Bev Quirt, Rebecca Brinkman, Krista Saunders, Nanda Affonso, Claudette Sullivan and Agnes Kedmenecz) finished third in another tight race.

Others medals included pair Mike Neary and Brian Love rowing to first in front of Irish, Brazilian and American crews and McCarthy setting a blistering pace to win a men's single heat by more than 17 seconds.

In Sunday's mixed races, McCarthy, Beattie, Laura Middleton and Jacqui Cook won the final medal for PRC, finishing first in a quad race.

NOTES: Weather resulted in a 90-minute delay on Friday due to heavy rain and high winds cancelled a portion of races on Saturday... Next year's World Rowing Masters Regatta will be held in Poznan, Poland.