Brentwood rowers train with University of Victoria crews

On Saturday morning, the Brentwood Rowing Club hosted the perennial national powerhouse University of Victoria (UVic) for two dual training sessions on the waters of Mill Bay. The Brentwood senior crews, travelling to Boston in two weeks, took this as an opportunity to test how well their training has gone for the past three weeks. The University of Victoria crews were made up of Varsity and Junior Varsity athletes. In the morning, the women held their own against the UVic crews, racing two 11-minute pieces. This was a huge confidence booster for the Brentwood girls team. The men stayed with the UVic men for the first 5 minutes of the 17-minute piece but were no match for the power of the UVic boat. The UVic men’s eight had four athletes from their nationally ranked men’s eight. Our youngest – 15; UVic’s oldest – 24! In the 15-minute piece, the Brentwood men’s eight started out ahead and were able to hold the opposition off for the entire piece. In the afternoon, the men’s and women’s programmes went in their separate directions, the men racing 6 two-minute pieces and the women 4 three-minute pieces. Again the Brentwood women had a great practice and stayed even with the UVic women’s crew. One member of the UVic crew recently returned from Beijing where she was competing for Canada at the Para-Olympics in the coxed four event. The Brentwood men’s crew were solid in three of the six pieces, staying in front in two, level in one and behind the other three. This was a great day for the club as we were able to give our university neighbors two competitive training sessions and two great meals in our dining room! Next stop – Boston and the Head of the Charles, October 19th.