Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the June edition of the South Cowichan Connector. Look for the July edition starting July 4.
The Shawnigan Lake School Regatta has given young people the opportunity to row, row, row their boats for the last 62 years.
This year’s event ran from May 10 to 12 at Shawnigan Lake West Provincial Park and while stats are always important — it’s more about community, and camaraderie.
“It was amazing, we couldn’t have had better water or better weather,” said head coach of rowing Jennifer Parfitt. “I think everybody had a good time, and we had a tone about this year’s regatta that was relaxed but at the same time consistent with the things we were trying to achieve such as being on time, keeping high standards, and people getting the most out of their actual race, so I loved it.”
Parfitt, who is originally from Powell River, called Victoria her home for more than 20 years before moving to Shawnigan Lake with her husband this past year to take over the head coaching position. The magic she remembers from her own years of rowing was definitely a catalyst for her coming on board.
“I just have such a breadth of knowledge, that I feel I should be sharing it,” said Parfitt. “In high school I had the most incredible experience with the team of girls I was with. It was magical coming together, we had such focus, but also a vulnerability that came with learning to be truthful with ourselves. Our coach really helped us with expressing ourselves, which led to us becoming a beautiful unit because we all understood each other so well. Something happened on the day of our high school nationals, when we all came together for that magical moment. From the very first stroke of that race to the end we stayed true to us, rowing our best race and we won. Even if we hadn’t won it wouldn’t have mattered because we did the best we could and put everything out there, and that’s a cool feeling.”
Those cool feelings kept coming for Parfitt as she continued her rowing career with the University of Victoria where she met her husband. Rowing at a national level became her life and involved training six hours a day, six days a week.
“I loved it so much that I rowed with the Canadian national team for seven years,” said Parfitt. “I went to the ‘96 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia and was with the bronze quad crew. I developed a sense of self-worth from all the hard work that must go into a sport like this. With rowing you have to develop this huge cardiovascular base to be able to race the distance, or at the intensity that you need. I learned a lot about myself. After I retired I ran a rowing club for a while and worked for the national organization, then later the provincial organization in a more administrative role. I missed the hands-on part of it, so came back to coaching.”
While Parfitt attended several Shawnigan Lake Regattas as a rower, this was her first time organizing it. This annual event first started after a rowing hiatus in 1962, and has been making a splash for more than six decades. It has always been held on Shawnigan Lake with locations, course lengths, and starting spots varying over the years. This year’s regatta had 19 junior clubs with more than 560 entries competing with U15 to U19 rowers from across Vancouver Island and the mainland. Some of the clubs closer to home included Shawnigan Lake, Brentwood College, St. Michael’s University, and Victoria City, Maple Bay, and Nanaimo Rowing clubs. Entry fees start between $40 and $50 for single rowers, while crews of eight can be as much as $120 per boat.
Regattas require a boatload of helping hands — from the transport shuttle that runs people from the school to the park every half hour to the kitchen volunteers who provide all the food.
“It takes a lot of people power to put on a regatta, and the whole school and some parents really comes together when you ask for help,” said Parfitt. “They were getting out in the coach boats, helping with safety, and doing the timing at the start line. I was just so grateful, I have one parent in particular who was helping with all of it, another who made all the sandwiches for the kids, and a staff member who helped kids get in the water from the beach. The number of hours the volunteers put into this event for the kids is just so wonderful to see.”
Another thing that was wonderful for the kids this year was the significant decrease in pleasure crafts zipping around on the water during the three-day event.
“Waves and wakes are dangerous for these types of boats,” said Parfitt. “One snapped in half last year because the boats are so light; if you get caught between the trough of two waves the boat will snap and a lot of kids flipped because of that last year. This year we put out more signage and messages to the community. While there were still people out there they were very respectful with how they crossed the course. I was so grateful the community considered us.”
The rowing program starts in September, but Parfitt said students can now join the program each term which can be tricky for those joining in early April.
“We try our best to get them out there, but they aren’t always ready,” said Parfitt. “We had some super keen Grade 8s that got out this year, and did really well, especially for not rowing that long.”
Parfitt said that one of the highlights of coaching her first Shawnigan Lake Regatta was seeing the progress with certain athletes and witnessing the light bulbs go off as they went along.
“It’s been rewarding for me to share what I know about regattas and what these young people need to think about when they are racing as I help them manage stress and encourage them to stay calm,” said Parfitt. “I try to get my students to think about staying true to their own race, and what they and their crew want to do within that race. If they start worrying about everything else around them, they’ll all end up rowing in different rhythms and not successfully move the boat forward together. I hope my kids came away feeling like they committed to it, talked to their teammates about it, and through the vulnerability at the end of the day got what they wanted out of it — a sense of camaraderie, and self-worth from the hard work. That’s what I remember from my own experience and that’s what I want for my kids.”
Hard work paid off for several of the Shawnigan Lake rowers this year and teams took home three bronze, five silver, and three gold “woodals”.
“We have these cool medals called woodals that are made by Heritage Trophies in Duncan,” said Parfitt. “They are a circle of wood with a stag which is the school’s emblem cut out in the middle with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. They are unique, and I think represent the vibe of the area very well.”
U15 Women’s 4X+ bronze winners were Victoria Bellhouse, Clara Cholack Loiselle, Kalissa Smith, Tori Ackerman and Sharlene Ho. U17 women’s 4X+ bronze winner included Sam Platt Isabella Parfitt Charlotte Lawson and Bridget Smith. Also earning a bronze was the U19 JV Men’s 4X comprised of Moose Brown, Tait Ackerman, Nikita Tiurpenko and Sasha Kaiser. Taking home silver for the U17 Women’s 8+ was Sloane WIlliams, Sam Platt, Isabella Parfitt, Charlotte Lawson, Scarlett Anselmo, Aven Thoma, Maddy Hudon, Bella Zhang and Bridget Smith. Kathryn Young won silver in the U19 Lightweight Women’s 1X and taking silver for the U19 Women’s 1X was Sophia Wolfenberg. Shelby Hack and Grace Shepard earned silver in the U19 JV Women’s 2X and also taking silver was the U19 Men’s 4X consisting of Dylan Acton, Arden Acton, Justus Freers and JD Pickens. Gold went to Sophia Wolfenberg and Eva Morten for the U19 Women’s 2x, JD Pickens for the U19 lightweight Men’s 1X, and to Sophia Wolfenberg, Eva Morten, Kathryn Young and Grace Shepard for the U19 Women’s 4X.
Parfitt took 21 rowers to compete in the U17 and U19 category at this year’s nationals which were held in St. Catharine’s, Ont. from May 31 to June 2.
“I’m really excited for them, it’s a huge Canadian national competition so if you win there you are first in your category in Canada,” said Parfitt. “We are taking 14 crews, we have singles, doubles, and quads, and some of those boats are coxed. The coxswain’s main responsibility is to steer, execute the race strategy, and encourage those in the boat while letting them known where they are in the race. There’s a core group of them in particular that I’ve trained so hard and have put in so many extra hours this year in order to go, so I’m very hopeful they can reap the rewards of that work when we’re there.”
Much like Parfitt, several past Shawnigan Regatta rowers have gone on to compete at an international level including the Henley Royal Regatta, which is a pinnacle rowing event held annually on the River Thames in the UK. Parfitt notes that crews who have competed there in the past have done quite well, and while she says it has become even more difficult and competitive in recent years, she would love to get her students there one day.
Parfitt already has plans to build on this year’s regatta, and would like to bring back the cake race she fondly remembers from her own high school regatta days. Crews are encouraged to line up and finish the best they can and the winner takes the cake. Victory never tasted so sweet.
“People would be rigging their boats different, and putting boys and girls together and mixing it up so there were no rules,” said Parfitt. “I thought it would be fun to bring that element back to the regatta next year as well as a few other things that would make it easier for the kids.”
No matter what level her rowers compete at Parfitt’s advice remains the same — to have fun. She hopes that all who attended this year’s regatta also had the same experience.
“My advice is for them to enjoy themselves, have fun, and support each other,” said Parfitt. “I hope everyone at the regatta felt that they were part of something bigger. I hope those who don’t row left with a better understanding of what the sport is about, and I hope all the rowers felt proud of how they conducted themselves and went away feeling proud of their achievements no matter what that looked like for them, especially our first-time rowers.”