Peterborough - The Head of the Trent Rowing Regatta was held in almost ideal weather conditions on Saturday, September 29. Five UOIT Crews traveled to Peterborough to compete in the last Head Race of the Season, and to compete against the best crews in the OUA Rowing circuit. The Head of the Trent is always a regatta high in the drama of the sport; be it weather related, race related, collisions, sinkings, and this year's Trent was no exception.
UOIT's first crew to compete was the Jr. Varsity Men's Heavyweight Coxed Four which is a new crew to competition, and they had to compete with the best, in the second ever regatta, that they rowed in and they placed 14th with a time of 22:15.66.
UOIT's second crew to enter the water was the Varsity Heavyweight Women. Due to the narrowness of the canal, there is no room for passing, and it was at this point that the second of the two Queens Golden Gaels (Kingston) entries decided to try and pass the UOIT crew, colliding with the stern of the UOIT and causing the UOIT Eight to ram into the canal stone wall. No one was hurt in the collision, but UOIT was knocked out of the race and finished well down in the standings. The Queens eight was disqualified, for passing in the zone.
UOIT's third crew to compete was the Men's Varsity Heavyweight Eight. As the crew rowed to the starting point of the regatta, they became aware that there was water coming into their boat, so much water that they had to use water bottles and shirts to bail the boat. It was apparent by the time that they got to the start that the "Foolish Pleasure" was in trouble, nevertheless, they bailed as much as they could and proceeded to take part in the racing, passing through the canal portion of the race, low in the water, down by the bow, rowing strong, but finished 10th well down in the standings, which is understandable considering how much water that they had taken on board. Once on shore, a close examination was made of the bow section of "Foolish Pleasure" and it was found that the hull fiberglass was fractured at the bow and that an internal bulkhead was distorted, causing it to leak and allowing water to enter the next compartment.
UOIT's fourth crew to compete, in the ongoing saga of UOIT's presence at the 37th Head of the Trent was University Lightweight Coxed Four Women. This was a difficult entry, as all of the UOIT Crew were rowers who had not rowed before this year. The only event that was available to them, at this regatta, was the Varsity event where top experienced crews were scheduled to race. Nevertheless the decision was made to enter them for racing experience, and although they tried, they finished 8th, with a time of 23.34.78 well down in the standings. They did however gain much needed racing experience that will stand them in good stead at future regattas where other novices compete.
The last and final event that UOIT entered was the Novice Men's Eight. The Novice's going at a good stroke rate entered into the narrow canal zone when the Western Mustangs (London) Crew ahead of them rammed the canal wall and came to a stop, causing the UOIT Novices also to come to a stop, when the Official on shore advised the UOIT crew to pass, the Western crew came to life and started to row, causing the two boats to entangle oars and both stopping until the entanglement could be sorted out. Over a minute of time was lost by this encounter. Nevertheless UOIT Novices picked up the pace finishing 7th out of the eighteen boats entered, with a time of 14.12.14 and sixty seconds behind the winning crew from Western.
Shannon Millikin, Cox'n, of the Carleton University third place crew, was quite happy that they finished ahead of the UOIT crew, where her grandfather, Rob Millikin, is the Varsity Rowing Head Coach.
Although no medals were garnered by the UOIT Crews at the 37th Head of the Trent, all of the crews did well in their journey to the OUA Rowing Championships in late October.