Head of the Gorge

10 November 2014Featherdawn F, Alex ‘15; Photos by Row2k and Mr. Brian Carr

Clustered together like penguins fending off the cold, Brentwood’s senior women gathered on one of the bridges over the Gorge River in Victoria. We were there to race the 3.5-kilometer course that follows the winding waterway. For many of us, this was our first experience at this race and the view from above was great! We watched and cheered as the senior men’s crews came down the course, some dressed up to celebrate the proximity of Halloween. The senior men’s quad won their division and the senior men’s eight placed fourth. Back at the launch where our bags and boats were, we attempted to stay warm before our race. The weather was drizzling just enough to be unpleasant but the adrenaline of the upcoming race kept us moving. Finally ready to launch, we carried the boat to the river’s edge – this is called a wet launch as we had to wade into the freezing water in order to place the boat. Two of us carried our coxswain so she would remain dry. Once set up, we settled into our seats and were pushed off by Mr. Wismer. It was time to race. The race was an epic, if hectic, one. We were not the only boat launching at that time, and everyone was fighting for a place in line to travel up the river—races are set so that all participating boats warm up to the start and then race down. Near the beginning of the warm up route the boats had to row under the Tillicum bridge one by one. This was the cause of the bottleneck. As we neared the front of the line, sneaking past boats and steadily making our way forward, we were instructed to pay very close attention to the umpire calling us through the cut. There was a strong current and failing to respond to his calls could be disastrous. Thankfully, our senior women’s eight made it through without incident and we were able to make our way to the start line. The start was just as clustered as the boats had to congregate in a small space, awaiting the start. We had fun looking at all the different rowers—there were juniors, seniors, masters, and mixed boats—and their costumes. Our race was finally called, and with only two boats in it we were confident of at least a silver. We started fifteen seconds after the other crew, who came from Calgary. Together and strong, we managed to pass our opposition under the first bridge, egged on by encouraging calls from Mrs. Sage who was situated upon it. From then we continued to gain water and managed to finish the course around a minute and a half faster than our opponents. It was a great race and everyone enjoyed celebrating on the bus back. With such a strong fall season, the spring is looking promising for all Brentwood rowers. Featherdawn F, Alex ‘15; Photos by Row2k and Mr. Brian Carr

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