On Saturday the 3rd of September, the Warrnambool Sprint Regatta was held as the first of four Canoeing Victoria Sprint Regattas culminating in the Victorian Sprint Championships to be held on Saturday the 18th of February.
The aim of the regatta was to provide some training to those officiating, with a specific focus on Starting. A 1000m and 500m course was laid, the Hopkins river at Warrnambool providing ample room for a 1000m by 6 lane course. For many of the Warrnambool paddlers, it was their first Sprint regatta. It was also the first kayak sprint regatta for Josh Heatley and Russ Goulding, Victorian SLS open Ski champions from Half Moon Bay.
For each distance, a scratch race was run and from that handicaps were worked out to enable a second race where paddlers were converging on the finish line together. It provided for some exciting racing between scratch paddlers as well as paddlers of differing abilities. There was also a TK division for a number of under 13s who registered for the event.
To finish the day, the under 13s were placed in the back of K2s with open males in the front, providing a thrilling experience for some of the Warrnambool juniors – a good taste of faster days to come.
All in all, it was a great day closing out with a race reflections over a BBQ provided by the Warrnambool Club. We encourage paddlers to make a big effort to get to these Sprint events with a view to growing the Sport and putting Victoria back on the map of Sprint paddling.
Ben Johnson
WKC
Canoeing Victoria would like to recognise and extend a big thank you to Ben who put in so much time and effort to make this event happen. His enthusiasm and support for Sprint paddling in Victoria is infectious and it is fantastic to have such supportive members in our community.
The next regatta will be held in Bendigo on Sunday 23rd October.
