The Telegraph Journal, July 20th, 1998

That's one mighty fine navy

Kennebecasis rowers stroked their way to 18 victories en route to an easy team victory at the provincial championships

By: NEIL HODGE

Click here to see full size. Jake Swan, Mike Owens, Chris McCully and Ian Edwards, compete during the New Brunswick competition.

Click here to see full size. New Brunswick competition - Ian Edwards, Chris McCully, Mike Owens and Jake Swan.

Click here to see full size. Chris Flood and Todd Carson concentrate on getting to the finish line en route to winning their senior pairs division over the weekend at the N.B. event.

Click here to see full size. Photographer: David Nickerson/Saint John Times Globe Chris Gairns and Andy Roberts of the Fredericton Rowing Club make their way up the course on the Kennebecasis River during Saturday’s New Brunswick rowing championships at the Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club in Rothesay.

ROTHESAY - The host Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club was in a class by itself on the water at the New Brunswick Rowing Championships on the Kennebecasis River Saturday

It captured first place in 18 of 23 events, finishing with 147 points.

The Fredericton Rowing Club, which won four events, was a distant runner-up with 48 points. North Star Rowing Club of Dartmouth placed third with 27 points and the Halifax Rowing Club took up the rear with 5.5 points.

In the event's major races, the Kennebecasis senior men's fours of Ryan Kilfoil, Todd Carson, Chris Flood and Wayne MacFarlane captured the Renforth Cup, an event commemorating James Renforth and the Great Boat Race of 1871. Meanwhile, Carson finished first in the Ross Memorial Race, a competition to determine the top 21-and-under sculler in the Maritimes.

"I'm very happy with our performance," said Sean Creary, head coach of the Kennebecasis club. "We were pretty consistent."

But Creary was quick to put the weekend result in perspective and keep his enthusiasm in check.

"We’ve got to be careful with this kind of success - we can't rest on it," he said. "We have to take advantage of this success. We have to use it as a motivator and not allow it to make us overconfident.

"We'll just use it as part of our training and keep things in perspective. Fact is, we still have bigger regattas against tougher competition later in the summer."

Kennebecasis and Fredericton are the two biggest rowing clubs in New Brunswick, each with approximately 170 members. The only other venue is the St. John River Rowing Club in Woodstock with approximately 15 members.

Creary acknowledges there's pride on the line between Kennebecasis and Fredericton for provincial bragging rights.

"There's a really good rivalry between the clubs, but it's on the water," he said. "I talk to (Fredericton head coach) Katie Burke on a daily basis because we're also co-coaches of the provincial team. We keep in touch and work well together.

"But, of course, when it's time to race, it's time to race. The level of competition was quite good (on Saturday), several really close races."

The Kennebecasis and Fredericton clubs will compete in the Dartmouth Sprints on Saturday on Lake Banook. After that, next up is the Royal Canadian Henley from Aug. 5-9 in St. Catharines, Ont., and the Canada Cup on Aug. 15-16 in Montreal.

The Royal Canadian Henley is the highest club level rowing competition in North America. It attracts athletes from several countries.

Following is a list of champions from each event at the New Brunswick Rowing Championships:

RACE WINNERS

Junior Men's Double Fredericton Rowing Club (Andy Roberts, Chris Gairns)

Senior Women's Quad - Fredericton Rowing Club (Anna Robak, Jen Seguin, Melissa Munden, Christina Bitterman)

Junior Novice Women's Coxed Four - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Julia Wowchuk, Laura Flanagan, Sabrina Czernecki, Jen Yorston and coxswain Jen Court)

Senior Men's Pair - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Chris Flood, Wayne MacFarlane)

Light Men's Pair - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Ryan Kilfoil, Todd Carson)

Senior Women's Single - North Star Rowing Club of Dartmouth (Jill Oxner)

Junior Men's Quad - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Jake Swan, Ian Edwards, Mike Owens, Andrew Munro)

Junior Women's Coxed Four - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Sue Munn, Nuala McKenna, Meghan Hartlen, Heather McInnes and coxswain April Nason)

Senior Men's Single - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Chris Flood)

Lightweight Men’s Single - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Todd Carson)

Senior Women’s Double - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Tracy Fraser, Stacy Norwood)

Junior Women's Eight- Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Katie Reynolds, Laura Penny, Trisha McBride, Elaine Davies, Meghan Hartlen, Sue Munn, Nuala McKenna, Heather McInnes and coxswain April Nason)

Novice Women's Eight - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Lauren Maillet, Sarah Ougler, Sabrina Czernecki, Jen Yorston, Julia Wowchuk, Laura Flanagan, Amy Connolly, Jen Buffett and coxswain Jen Court)

Senior Men's Double - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Chris Flood, Todd Carson)

Lightweight Men's Double -Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Ryan Kilfoil, Sean Moore)

Junior Men's Coxed Four - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club Jake Swan, Ian Edwards, Andrew Munro, Mike Owens and coxswain Jen Court)

Senior Women's Pair - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Stacy Norwood, Tracy Fraser)

Junior Women's Quad - Fredericton Rowing Club (Christina Bitterman, Laura Davis, Emily Gesner, Jamie-Lynn Payton)

Senior Men's Coxed Eight - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Chris Flood, Wayne MacFarlane, Henry Flood, Brian Flood, Jake Swan, Mike Owens, Andrew Munro, Ian Edwards and coxswain Jen Court)

Junior Women's Double - Fredericton Rowing Club (Christina Bitterman, Emily Gesner)

Mixed Coxed Eight - Kennebecasis Rowing and Canoe Club (Ryan Kilfoil, Todd Carson, Brendan Kilfoil, Sean Moore, Tracy Fraser, Stacy Norwood, Heather McInnes, Meghan Harden and Coxswain April Nason).