On a beautiful August day, Twin Cities Youth Rowing hosted a regatta at our home site on Bryant Lake. This regatta was just for Junior rowers, and those rowers got lots of action. In addition to TCYR, we had competitors from the Minneapolis Rowing Club, the Minnesota Boat Club (in St. Paul), and the Milwaukee Rowing Club.
One hundred sixty-six junior rowers competed in nineteen separate races in ten events. The racing was great. The Milwaukee club brought tough out-of-town competition to the Minnesota waters with some fast boats. St. Paul dominated the Junior Women's events, taking first place in all of them. It was great to host our old friends, MRC, especially since some of their coaches are TCYR alumni. TCYR, with the largest team, lead the overall standings, by winning twelve 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place awards. Two hundred four medals were awarded to the Junior rowers who competed.
The regatta filled Bryant Lake Park to the max; hundreds of family, friends, neighbors, kids, dogs, and other spectators came to watch and cheer. The site was fantastic for the spectators, offering lots of viewing, especially from the pier that got very close to the boats as they came down the last 500 meters of the course. The food concession served snacks and meals that were described as "best regatta food ever". Lots of rowers and spectators went home with souvenir regatta T-shirts and other team gear. Over 50 parents from TCYR volunteered to keep the event well-organized and on-time. Six volunteers from Minneapolis Rowing Club also contributed their experience to help TCYR make our first regatta a success. In addition to club volunteers, numerous Three Rivers Park District staff and security were on hand to make sure parking and facility management ran smoothly.
