The Evening Times Globe, Saint John, N.B., July 26, 1974

Kennebecasis Crew Opening Eyes

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - "Everybody is talking about us.

"We're sort of getting to be the local favorites here."

Those were the words of Kennebecasis Rowing Club captain Tim Frink following the second day of competitions at the Canadian Henley Regatta here Thursday.

New Brunswick’s only entry in the prestigous competition continues to make their presence felt.

They clocked 6 minutes, 52 seconds down the 200-metre distance to gain another opening round first, this time in the lightweight 145-pound Cox four heat. The final is slated for 3:30 this afternoon.

Brockville, Ont. and Wyandotte, B.C., were the other entries in the race.

"We were sitting third all the way down to about the 1500- metres," said Frink. Then Brockville dropped back and Kennebecasis turned it on to nip Wyandotte at the line.

That heat started about 8:30 A.D.T., said Frink, and the Kennebecasis crew had just "raced at 5:30 in a final."

The locals were ousted in two finials earlier in the day and the lightweight 145-pound cox four final today will be their last event.

And Frink said "with a good night's sleep, we should be really fresh tomorrow (Friday). If the boys perform the way they did in the heat we should win the final."

On opening day at the Henley, Kennebecasis qualified for the final in a pair of events. They won the junior lightweight 145- pound straight (without cox-swain) heat and came in with a second in the junior heavyweight cox four heat.

However they were beaten out in the finals in each Thursday. They placed fourth in the heavy cox four but came in last in the 145-pound four.

The club was also entered in a pair of other events, the junior heavyweight four and Andy Messer and Mark Allen combined efforts for a junior pair. They failed to qualify in both, although Messer and Allen barely missed. They came in third in the pairs heat.

The Charles River Rowing Club of Boston, a collection of United States college oarsmen who won the junior cox four and junior 155-pound eight finals vaulted to the top of the early point race after Thursday's opening finals.

Charles River used firsts to pile up 54 points, eight more than St. Catharines, which managed only one win, that one coming in the junior cox pair. The Minnesota Boat Club of St. Paul wound up third on 41 points.

Kennebecasis is 11th in the point parade with a total of 14.

Although the Kennebecasis club has yet to win an event, Frink said "we're doing incredibly well," especially since it's the first rowing competition the oarsmen have participated in this season.

"All the best competition in, North America is right here," said Frink. "We're in the big leagues and really digging in."

The Henley this year is the biggest in the 92-year history of the national rowing championships.

More than 1,000 oarsmen, scullers and oarswornen from 55 Canadian, United States and Mexican rowing clubs filed entries.