Winnipeg Wins Lipton Cup

Sir Thomas Lipton Cup awarded each year to the rowing club scoring the greatest number of points at the NWIRA championship regatta

The Winnipeg Rowing Club sent 43 athletes to Regina this past weekend to compete at the 112th NWIRA Championship Regatta – and came out on top!

A long and proud tradition that began in 1886, the North West International Rowing Association (NWIRA) Championship Regatta is an annual competition between Canadian and American mid-western rowers. This year there were 486 entries from nine rowing clubs: Winnipeg MB, Regina SK, Saskatoon SK, Edmonton AB, Kenora ON, Long Lake MN, Duluth MN, Minneapolis MN, and St. Paul MN.

The coveted Lipton Cup is presented to the club that wins the most points. This year, the Winnipeg Rowing Club captured the beautiful sterling silver trophy, and the title of Grand Aggregate Champion. Winnipeg also won the Henning Peterson Trophy (known as “The Rock”) for the most women’s points, and the trophy for most points by Master rowers. Also notable is that Winnipeg placed second for aggregate points in the Junior category, despite only having 11 Junior athletes competing.

Congratulations to the following WRC athletes who won gold medals:
Master Women’s Quad – Sheila Wilson-Kowal, Friederike von Aweyden, Vanessa Brown, Andrea Lefort
Master Men’s Quad – Andrew Lamont, Jeff Reitberger, Satoru Nakagawa, Elliott Garfinkle
Mixed Master Quad – Andrew Lamont, Jeff Reitberger, Vanessa Brown, Andrea Lefort
Master Women’s Single – Sheila Wilson-Kowal
Master Men’s Single – Andrew Lamont
Open Women’s Four – Casie Gauthier, Janine Stephens, Amy Kroeker, Christina Blouw
Open Men’s Single – Riley MacCharles
Open Men’s Single Dash – Riley MacCharles
Junior Women’s Single – Emma Gray
Junior Men’s Single – Josh Ilse

In addition to these first place wins, there were numerous second and third place finishes. Overall, a victorious effort was put forth by the entire WRC team, led by Head Coach Steve Taylor. WRC member Allan Horne was in Regina, working as the regatta’s Head Official, and WRC member Sandra Kirby was also on hand to officiate.

Racing took place over two days of competition on Regina’s Wascana Lake, in cold, rainy, and horribly windy conditions. In fact, the weather was so terrible that a number of events had to be cancelled on Saturday (with winners chosen from previous heat times).