Canadian Henley Race Recap
GRP senior and U23 athletes headed to St. Catharines, Ontario, to race at the Canadian Henley Regatta. The week-long regatta attracts more than 2,500 athletes, with competitors ranging from juniors to masters. The team arrived Sunday night to a brutal thunderstorm that brought flooding to the area and debris on the course. Luckily, the weather cleared up and athletes were able to rig boats and practice on the course on Monday to prepare for the week of racing.
Tuesday, August 4th
The regatta kicked off at 8 am in the Senior Women's Single for Paige Wheeler, Sue Holderness, and Charlotte Wiley. The weather was sunny and calm, with flow creating a fast course for the first day of racing. Paige kicked off the morning in heat 1 with a dominating performance. Sue and Charlotte also both won their heats with big margins. All three women progressed to the semifinal.
The U23 Pair of Sophia Cavalieri and Alexandra Pearson kept the momentum going, winning heat 1 to advance to the semifinal.
The last GRP races of the day were the Men's Senior Single. Quin Woods won his race, about 30 seconds ahead of second place. Ben Harper and Evan Hankins-Hull both finished second in their heats. All three men advanced to the semifinals.
U23 Pair: Sophia (Stroke) Alex (Bow)
Wednesday, August 5th
Day 2 of racing had fast, exciting conditions. Paige and Charlotte kicked off the day in the Senior W1x and finished first and second respectively, moving on to the final. Sue was in semifinal 2 and, after a rough start, fought back through the middle of the race to get even. In a close, tight sprint, the top three had a photo finish separating first and third by 0.4 seconds. Sue was on the wrong side of it, placing third and not advancing.
Sophia and Alex threw down another great race in the U23 Pair, winning their semi by roughly 14 seconds to advance to the final.
The Senior M1x heats were filled with three GRP rowers — Quin, Ben, and Evan — plus Evan Falstrup, who has trained with GRP for the past month. This race had another tight battle, with Quin finishing first and Falstrup just a second behind to secure their spots in the final. Evan Hankins-Hull finished fourth and Ben fifth.
The U23 M1x rounded out the morning in their heats. Sam van Adrichem Boogaert had a tight race to finish second in his heat, just 0.36 back from first place. Continuing the theme of the day, Andrew Ehlers fought through another photo finish, crossing third — just half a second behind the qualifying spot. Jack Wagner finished fourth in his heat, and Owen Robertson won his. Sam and Owen both advanced to the semifinal.
The afternoon session brought Paige, Charlotte, Sophia, Alex, Ben, and Evan back for round two. In the Senior Women's Pair, both GRP boats (Paige and Charlotte; Alex and Sophia) won their heats with open water to advance to the final. Ben and Evan rounded off the day, finishing second in the Men's Senior Double to advance to the final.
Thursday, August 6th
Thursday was the first day of finals and did not disappoint. In the Senior W1x, Paige established an early lead and maintained it the whole way, winning in 7:27.13. Charlotte was right in the mix battling down the course with a few other boats and had a fantastic second half to pull clearly into second, finishing in 7:31.21.
Sophia and Alex kept the momentum going with a win in the U23 Pair final, crossing in 7:11.83 — about four seconds clear of St. Catharines Rowing Club for GRP's first gold of the day.
Quin rounded out the morning of finals with another win in the Senior M1x, posting a fast time of 6:40.71.
Sam won his semifinal in 7:14.1, and Owen was second in his, just a second back of first — both stepped up to advance to Friday's final. The Women's U23 Quad of Sophia Cavalieri, Alex Pearson, Jayna Palmer, and Cecily Shaber won their heat by 12 seconds to advance to the final.
To round out the day, Natalie Hoefer and Catie Castle finished second in their heat to advance to the semis in the Senior Women's Double. Jane Doyle and Sue Holderness finished fourth in their heat.
Quin signing his plaque after his win in the Single
Friday, August 7th
Despite rainy, gloomy weather, GRP had another first-and-second finish in the Senior W2- final. Paige and Charlotte owned the race, crossing in 7:13.31. In a close battle for second, Sophia and Alex pulled ahead of Calgary by a second to secure silver, finishing in 7:22.07.
The U23 M1x final showed fast times and tough competition — Sam and Owen stepped up to the challenge and raced well, finishing 4th and 5th. Ben and Evan finished fourth in the Senior M2x final.
Catie and Natalie had a solid race in their semifinal, taking second to move on to the final in the Senior W2x. Jayna and Alex finished out the day with heats in the U23 Women's Single — Jayna finished second and Alex finished first, both progressing to the semifinals.
Saturday, August 8th
Thunderstorms struck early Saturday morning, causing a delay and a shift in the racing schedule. GRP stayed calm and adjusted to the conditions.
The U23 W4x threw down a feisty race, staying in touch with the ARION quad the entire way. After a tight sprint, Craftsbury finished just a second back to secure silver.
Natalie and Catie finished fourth in the final of the Senior W2x. In the Men's Championship Pair, Dylan and Ben raced a fantastic heat to finish third and move on to the final. Quin and Evan Falstrup finished fourth in their heat.
The Senior Women's Quad — Catie, Natalie, Jane, and Sue — finished first in their heat to advance to the final. The Men's Senior Quad finished 7th in their heat.
Many GRP rowers then hotseated straight into the Championship Women's Single heats. Paige and Jane finished first in their heats, Catie second, Grace fifth, and Natalie fourth. Paige, Jane, and Catie advanced to the final.
In the U23 W1x, Alex finished first to advance to the final, and Jayna finished fifth.
Rounding off the day was the Women's Single Dash — rowers randomly placed in heats for a 500-meter race, with the fastest overall time crowned the winner. Grace finished first in her heat in 1:53 and second overall. Charlotte finished first in her heat and first overall in 1:51 — the fastest time of the entire 17-boat field. Cillian finished third in his heat and 10th overall.
Charlotte (left) Grace (middle) Cillian (right) after the dash
Sunday, August 9th
With only six boats entered, the Championship Women's Pair lined up for their first race in the final. Cillian and Jayna executed their race plan perfectly, sprinting past the leading boat in the second half to claim gold in 7:21.59.
In the Men's Championship Pair, Ben and Dylan raced well to finish fifth. The Senior Women's Quad made a huge push in the second half to close the gap, finishing just a second back of second for bronze.
The Championship W1x was a great showing for GRP: Paige finished first, Catie fourth, and Jane sixth. Alex closed out the regatta with a fourth-place finish in the U23 W1x.
We are proud of how the team executed and represented GRP this week. Final tally: seven golds, three silvers, and a bronze across the senior and U23 program. All results and times can be found on RegattaCentral.
Canadian Henley marks the end of the U23 rowers' summer training block and their time in Craftsbury. They'll head home to prepare for the upcoming school year and return to their collegiate teams. The senior athletes will return to Craftsbury or take a short vacation before training resumes as a team in September.
