1987

By: DAVE SPRAGG

Staff Writer

One of the signs of spring is the return of open water on the Kennebecaisis River. And that means the Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club is about to paddle into action.

Following a year rowing competition coordinator Dr. Harry Flood described as "overall, the best the club has had," the 130-member club is looking for more honors in 1987.

There will be some highlights of 1986 that will be tough to top.

The club seemed to have the King Midas touch... everything turned to gold, or, on occasion, silver or bronze.

The year was highlighted by the performance of Wayne MacFarland Chris Flood, who came home with two gold medals from the prestigious Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines Ont. The MacFarlane-Flood combination won both the intermediate and senior men's light weight pairs at Henley. The other medal at Henley was for Henry Flood, who collected a bronze in the senior men's 155-lb. single dash.

McFarlane had two other honors. He was the stroke - the man at the stern the other rowers watch - for the Ridley eight at the Royal Henley Regatta in England which captured the Thame's Cup, emblematic of junior college supremacy.

MacFarlane also stroked the eight and four of the Florida Technical Institute in Melbourne, Fla., the school he is currently attending on a rowing scholarship, to wins at the Atlanta Head Regatta.

Chris Flood, on the other hand, joined clubmate John Oxley on the Western University Varsity eight which won the Ontario universities championships.

Other club accomplishments included seven victories at the Halifax School Boys' Regatta, first-place overall at the Dartmouth Sprints, first place - and consequently the Renforth Cup - at the Atlantic Rowing Regatta in Saint John and four first-place finishes at the Canadian championships in Montreal, including MacFarlane and Chris Flood in the

senior men's lightweight and heavyweight pairs and MacFarlane, Chris Flood, Rick Cassidy and Henry Flood in the lightweight quads. Others in the medals were Henry Flood with a second place in the senior 155-lb. single, a bronze for Cassidy in the senior 145-lb. single and a third place for the junior team cox four of Kirk Reid, Peter Fenwick, Gordie McNamee and Randy Milliken with Mark Fawcett as cox.

And the boys did not completely steal the show. Natalie Sweet, for example, crewed with the Queens University eight which came in second in the Ontario university championships.

This year actually got off to a better start. At the annual Captain's Dinner, held at the Riverside Country Club, there were 130 In attendance and $7,000 was raised, compared to $5,600 last year. That money, said club president Fred Demers, will be used to pay for the club programs such as the purchase of shells and helping to send youngsters to various regattas, both in the Atlantic Provinces as well as the Canadian championships in Montreal and the Royal Canadian Henley in St. Catharines.

The schedule of major regattas gets under way June 27 with the Renforth Regatta, followed by the Nova Scotia Sprints in Dartmouth July 11.

The provincial championships will be held in Fredericton July 18 and 19 and the Atlantic Rowing Regatta, held here a year ago, is scheduled for St. John's, Nfld., August 21 to 23.

The year ends with the New Brunswick School Boys' Regatta Oct. 24 and 25 with the Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club acting as hosts.

The canoeists - who make up 30 of the 130 membership in the club - also have a busy schedule beginning with their own canoeing regatta, July 11.

Two other events of note are the Atlantic championships in Dartmouth July 31 to Aug. 2 and the Canadian championships in Calgary Aug. 13 to 15.

Two members of the Club, Gary McDonough and Philip Barry of Renforth, will be looking to improve their sixth-place showing in the K-2 1,000-metre kayak pairs race at the nationals a year ago.

In addition to the national events for the rowers, people such as Chris Flood and Wayne MacFarlane will be doing their own thing around North America.

Ironically, they may row against each other when they attend the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia May 8 to 10.

Considered the premier event for university rowing, MacFarlane will be there with the Florida Technical Institute and Flood will be part of the Western University squad.

From there, they will work together to prepare for the Canadian lightweight trials in Welland beginning June 5. Henry Flood and John Hillis of Fredericton will also be looking at a chance to make the national crew.

The main goal with making the national team is a shot at the Pan-Am Games this year.

The foursome have little hope of making the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea because as it stands right now, the Olympics are open classes and they would have to compete against heavyweights. But Dr. Flood explained that a lightweight division may be included in the 1992 Olympics which could be a possibility for both Chris Flood and MacFarlane - who are 19 and 20, respectively - should they stick with the sport that long.

One young prospect associated with the Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club in the heavyweight divisions that has drawn national attention is 18- year-old Doug Boyle, son of Bruce and Lynn Boyle of Rothesay. Boyle was part of that Ridley College crew that captured the Thame's Cup in England last summer. He is just finishing up his high school education at Ridley and the coach there is Neil Campbell, who coached the Olympic crew.

While many athletes travel far and wide, one of the first jobs at home is to find a summer coach for the club. Last year, Carolyn Trono of Toronto had the job and the assignment of finding a replacement has been given to coaching coordinator Tom Moore.

Last year was the first in which a full-time coach was hired with Keith Ratcliffe handling those chores prior to moving to Ontario in 1985. Ratcliffe was instrumental in putting the club on the Canada Games map, so to speak, at the 1985 event here when members of the Kennebecasis club captured six of the 14 provincial medals.

The 1989 Canada Games is something that, in a rowing sense, is not too far away and this summer should be a pivotal one for the provincial prospects.

Dr. Flood noted the development program "should be much more intensified this summer" under the watchful eye of provincial coach Kim Norris of Fredericton and Henry Flood, who is acting as assistant.