Seattle’s Head of the Lake

9 November 2011Mr. Brian Carr

I’m on the magic school bus heading back to Canada with ten athletes, Mr. Wismer, Mrs. Drevniok and their son Cormac, Mr. Carr Sr. and our trusty driver, Derek Garside. Our two crews, the Youth Women’s 4+ and the Youth Men’s 4x+ were racing in the Head of the Lake Regatta out of the University of Washington boathouse earlier today. This three mile race winds its way from downtown Seattle on Lake Union, through the Montlake Cut and ends in Portage Bay on Lake Washington.

This weekend the Milne family, aboard their boats, the Katania and the Kayana, hosted us. Upon our arrival on Saturday afternoon, Captain Scott took all the athletes for a trip on the course in the ship’s tender. On a beautiful autumn afternoon the kids got a chance to see the course, as well as all the boat traffic heading to Portage Bay to watch the Washington Huskies’ football game against Oregon.

After the trip, our stewardess, Holly, and the crew chef put on a five course meal for our group. We were joined by 2005 grads Gilly Milne and Noah Stevens and the Head of Women’s rowing at Green Lake, Coby Stiles, Riley M’s mom, Stephanie Mulvey, and our host, Riley’s dad, Bruce Milne. The kids presented Mr. Milne and Captain Scott with two signed books on the history of the school written by Mr. Nicholas Prowse.

After a brief hot tub overlooking the city of Seattle, on the deck of the Kayana, the two crews went to sleep on their respective boats. Sunday morning, after that extra hour of sleep, Mr. Wismer, our two coxswains, Riley M, Caroline C and I left at 5:45 am to get to the coxswain’s meeting. The rest of the team was able to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast at 7:00 am. Mrs. Drevniok, Cormac and the team arrived at the UW boathouse at 8:00 am.

The weather conditions were the best the coaches had seen in the thirty years the regatta has been held. The Youth Men’s quad was the first to go. The crew was Riley M, Ian S, Joel B, Jeff B and Jon H. The guys had a good race despite Ian ripping his right shoe off the footboards in the first five strokes and racing the five kilometers with one leg. The crew finished 4th, 18 seconds out of first place.

In the penultimate of the day, our Youth Women’s 4+ were ready to go. The crew was Anastasia K, Caroline C, Stephanie T, Ailish T and Spencer M. Spencer and Stephanie came down on the Victoria Clipper on Saturday night after winning the ISA volleyball championships for the Brentwood Senior Girls. Starting second to last, the Brentwood girls passed three crews and finished 4th.

After a quick trip back to the boats to pick up our bags, some team pictures on the stern of the Kayana and a trip to Dick’s Burgers, it was back onto the I-5 to head home.

A special thank you to the Milne Family for one of the most memorable weekends a group of Brentwood kids have enjoyed in Seattle in the history of the school.

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