Rain washed out races on Monday. Photo Credit: World Rowing.
Racing continued Tuesday at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, after forecasted rain Monday forced organizers to cancel all events.
Sixty-four countries are competing in the week-long event on the world-famous Henley course in Port Dalhousie.
Opening ceremonies took place Saturday evening inside the Bob Davis Gymnasium on campus at Brock University.
Over 1,800 rowers, coaches and trainers are being housed on campus at Brock for the week.
St. Catharines is hosting the event for the first time since 1999, and this year is being dubbed the “Mega Worlds” as rowing includes Senior, U23 and the U19 World Championships.
“I’m pretty excited, we’re very fortunate, as we have some of the Olympians (who just participated in Paris) here,” said Chair Bill Schenck recently on the Niagara Sports Report on Newstalk 610 CKTB. “All in all everyone seems pretty happy. It’s been very positive walking around the venue talking to some of the athletes how happy they are to be here.”
Schenck added accessibility and transportation to and from the course were of top of mind for organizers and says complimentary parking is available at Bill Burgoyne Arena and St. Francis Catholic School in St. Catharines.
A complimentary shuttle service is also being provided every 30 minutes from 8:30AM – 6:00 p.m. (exceptions: 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Aug. 20 and 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Aug. 25) by Niagara Region transit on a continuous loop: St. Francis School, Bill Burgoyne Arena, Rennie Park, Craig Swayze Memorial Grandstand.
Gold Rennie Park ticket holders can park at Jaycee Gardens Park and take the adjoining foot bridge into Rennie Park.
The championships are more than rowing as a free four-day outdoor festival will run from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. from Aug. 21 to 24 at Rennie Park, adjacent to the finish area of the Henley Rowing Course (where VIP and GOLD spectator seating will be located).
Local artisan vendors, food and beverage programming, and daily live entertainment will be featured including headliners: The Trews, DJ Shub, Owen Riegling and Scott Helman.
A Family Fun Day is also planned for Saturday Aug. 24 from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate to FEED Niagara.
The complimentary shuttle service will have extended service until 11:00 p.m. on Fan Festival nights, and run every 15 minutes, and if you show your event ticket for the Mega Worlds, you’ll be able to hop on any Niagara Region Transit regular scheduled bus routes to Rennie Park on Lakeport Road for free.
A full schedule for the World Rowing Championships can be found here.
Competitions will be streamed on worldrowing.com and on World Rowing’s YouTube Channel as Niagara College professor Peter ‘Dutch’ VandenBerg and his alumni team are behind all production of this year’s Mega Worlds.
Racing results can be found here.
Tickets start at just $15 per day. For more information visit here.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
