Several likely future Olympians will be rowing on Quamichan Lake this summer as Brentwood College School, the Municipality of North Cowichan and Victoria City Rowing Club team up to host the 2017 CanAmMex Regatta.
Hosting duties for the annual regatta are rotated through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and this will mark the first time that the event has been held on the west coast of Canada.
The week-long event, running from July 2-8, will consist of six days of training on Quamichan Lake followed by racing on Elk Lake on the final day, alongside the 2017 Challege West and B.C. Championship regattas. The athletes and coaches will stay at Brentwood College, and the school will run the camps and provide logistics support.
“We are really excited to be part of it and to be hosting the athletes and coaches at Brentwood,” said Debbie Sage, the school’s head of rowing.
Racing will be contested in 12 events: single sculls, double sculls, pair, quadruple sculls, coxed four and eight for both men and women. The CanAmMex Regatta was last hosted in Canada at Locahber Lake, Nova Scotia in 2014.
North Cowichan director of parks and recreation Ernie Mansueti was involved in securing the event for the Cowichan Valley.
“We are honoured to be able to play host to such a prestigious international training event and we truly appreciate Rowing Canada’s coordinating efforts and their support for our facilities and community,” Mansueti said.
About 90 people, 30 from each country, will be in attendance for the regatta, including many senior national team hopefuls.
“For these kids, the next step is the junior national team,” Sage said. “These are possibly our next Olympians.”
Brentwood rowing coach Brian Carr has coached the Canadian team at the CanAmMex Regatta, and the school typically has several alumni at the event. Current Grade 11 and 12 athletes will be eligible for the 2017, which will be selected in June.