Rowers race to victory in annual regional regatta

NEW PRESTON — The 28th annual Kent Rowing Invitational returned to Lake Waramaug on Saturday, May 14. The regatta featured teams from eight high schools: Kent School, The Hotchkiss School, Salisbury School, Sacred Heart Greenwich, Farmington High School, Simsbury High School, Brunswick School, and East Lyme High School.

Each school put forth multiple crews to represent their team in the six-lane race. Rowers faced a headwind exceeding 15mph on Lake Waramaug with sun shining and temps in the low 70s.

The regatta included four runs for both boys and girls crews on the 1500-meter course. Hundreds of spectators were in attendance lakeside for an action-packed day of racing.

For the girls, the race between first boat crews was won by Kent with a time of 5:45.7. East Lyme came in second at 5:58.7 and Hotchkiss placed third with a time of 6:00.8

The Kent girls won the race among second boats as well and finished the course in 5:41.8. East Lyme placed second with a time of 6:03.4 and Simsbury came in third at 6:11.3.

Kent’s third crew won their race too with a time of 6:20.5 while East Lyme placed second at 6:45.3 and Farmington took third with 7:18.7.

Farmington won the fourth boat race at 6:28.6 with East Lyme in second with a time of 6:31.6 and Kent finished third at 6:43.0.

For the boys, Salisbury won the first boat race with a time of 4:48.0, the fastest time of the day. Brunswick placed second at 4:52.5 and Kent took third with a time of 5:01.0.

Kent won the second boat race in 5:00.0 with Brunswick in second at 5:05.6 and Salisbury in third with a time of 5:08.6

The third boat race was won by Brunswick at 5:12.4. Kent placed second with a time of 5:31.0 and Farmington took third at 5:38.1.

Only two teams raced in the boys fourth boat run. Brunswick won in 6:30.0 and Simsbury followed them with a time of 6:41.5.

“Great day of racing. The wind changed quite a bit during the day, but it was fair racing in windy conditions,” said Kent Coach Eric Houston.

Kent’s first boat won their race with a time of 5:45.7 at the Kent Rowing Invitational on May 14. Photo by Lans Christensen

Kent’s first boat won their race with a time of 5:45.7 at the Kent Rowing Invitational on May 14. Photo by Lans Christensen

Kent’s first boat won their race with a time of 5:45.7 at the Kent Rowing Invitational on May 14. Photo by Lans Christensen