The 108th NWIRA Championship Regatta took place August 19-20 in Duluth, Minnesota. Over 350 athletes representing ten rowing clubs from Canada and the US participated in the various events.
The regatta went ahead despite two days of very windy conditions on Lake Superior. Winnipeg Rowing Club had strong results, placing third overall in total club points. The following Winnipeg athletes captured gold medals in their events:
Open Women’s Single – Kaitlin Rempel
Open Men’s Single – Paul Thiessen
Lightweight Women’s Single Dash – Brandi Smith
Open Women’s Double – Nia Perron, Claudia Blandford
Mixed Masters’ Double – Brandi Smith, Andrew Lamont
Open Women’s Quad – Nia Perron, Claudia Blandford, Kaitlin Rempel, Natasha Tersigni
Junior B Men’s Quad – Maxwell Harley, Ben Dearing, Anselm Ragetli, Joshua Ilse
On the second day, racing was stopped for a ‘memorial row’ and minute of silence to recognize NWIRA rowers who recently passed away. Winnipeg’s legendary sculler Theo Dubois was among the honoured. A longtime competitor of the NorthWest circuit, from 1931 to 1955 Theo acquired more trophies at the NorthWest Regatta than any other oarsman.
Winnipeg rowers Andrew Lamont and Jeff Reitberger took part in the on-the-water procession, rowing in their double to honour Theo.
Full regatta results can be found here.
Winnipeg Rowing Club 