Submitted
Rowers from around B.C. and Washington state will be arriving this week for the Nelson Sprints Rowing Regatta.
The event, which runs Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lakeside Park, is free to watch.
Rowing British Columbia sanctions and sends a team of officials to oversee the race. The head race official this year will be Linda Arnold.
Arnold’s husband Don is a former Olympian and will be here as well. In 1956, Don along with three team mates (including Lorne Loomer from Nelson) won the first Olympic gold medal in rowing for Canada at the summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Don has been an avid supporter of the Nelson Rowing Club over many years. In honour of him one of the double racing shells bears his name.
“We are very grateful to Linda and her team of race officials, Don and Rowing BC for making the journey to Nelson to oversee the races,” organizers said.
Established in 1896, the Nelson Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs in British Columbia and one of the few Interior B.C. rowing clubs to host a regatta.
It is a short course compared to others (1,000 metres instead of 2,000), hence the name Nelson Sprints. This will be a fun filled day of racing at beautiful Lakeside Park on spectacular Kootenay Lake.
“The regatta requires a no wake zone so we really appreciate the boating community’s help with this each year,” organizers said. “The no wake zone will be in place throughout the day on Aug. 10 from the Prestige Inn to the bridge.”
Rowing British Columbia is also offering a youth development camp after the regatta on Saturday. This special event conducted by Rowing B.C.’s provincial coach Rob Richards and Rowing B.C. provincial coach co-ordinator Martin George is for young rowers.
Saturday offers dry land training on technique, yoga for strength and recovery with rowing as the special focus. The youth development camp continues on Sunday with on water training, individual assessment and opportunities for fine tuning.
Online registration is open at https://rowingbc.ca/event/junior-development-camp-nelson/.