I don’t have EXACT race times for Saturday yet, however I do have it narrowed down. Exact race times should be out in the next couple of days.
***NOTE THAT SOME RACE TIMES ARE SIGNIFICANTLY EARLIER THAN THE ORIGINAL SCHEDULE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE!!!***

8:00 OR 8:15: Max
8:30 OR 8:45: Robin, Serena
9:00, 9:15 OR 9:35: Liam, Owen, Ethan
9:50 OR 10:05: Geon
10:20, 10:35, 10:50, 11:010 or 11:25: Maddy D, Maggie, Charlotte, Liv, Ryann, Maddy T
11:40 OR 11:55: Sequoia
1:30 OR 1:45: Becca, Caroline, Aleah, Kate M, Zaiga (**NEEDS TO BE THERE EARLY TO DO LATE REGISTRATION***)
1:45 OR 2:00: Maddy, Fiora
2:45 OR 3:00: Alex

For those of you who’ve asked about the Brock sculling camp over March Break, you can register for this on regattacentral.com This camp is for experienced rowers only. Those who should consider this are rowers who have swept, but maybe not sculled a whole lot. It will give you a chance to get some water time before April, as well as seriously upskill.

On regattacentral.com, go to “Clubs” on the top banner. Scroll down to “Brock Rowing Camps”. You will then see the details for the camp.

Final preps this week for Ontario’s on Saturday! The week will shape up as follows: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday: erg speedwork, with Thursday being somewhat of a “taper” with less duration. Wednesday is our normal yoga class–please endeavour to be there and get our numbers above the usual 15 or so who’ve been regulars. Friday is a PA Day, so you will be off. Those not racing Saturday should go for a 40 minute run. Those racing Saturday should rest, and think about your race strategy. We will reconvene next Monday with a 2K for those who aren’t racing on Saturday, and for one more week of training before March Break!!

If those who didn’t get their entries in are actually able to race, you will need to do an on-site late entry on Saturday at Ridley. I won’t be there, as I’ll be out of town from Tuesday through Sunday, but Mike or Pete will be there and be able to help. I’ll mostly be off e-mail and text for the week, but will try to get the draw out when it’s published. If that doesn’t happen, please check regattacentral.com. If you click on “heat sheet/draw” on the left panel of the regatta page, you’ll be able to see what time you’re racing. Please be there 45 minutes to an hour prior to your race so you can register, weigh in and warm up. We are aiming for a whole bunch of PBs at this regatta, so GO FOR IT!!

DIRECTIONS TO RIDLEY COLLEGE
From the QEW, exit at 406 South. Go 4 km to Fourth Avenue exit and turn Right at top of ramp. At 2nd Traffic Light, turn Left onto Louth Street. Go 1 km and turn Left on Ridley Road (before crossing train tracks). Take 1st Left into Ridley parking lots.

Entries are due tonight for Ontario’s and there are still a few of you not entered.

Please get them in ASAP. Lots of you still haven’t entered and entries close tomorrow. Instructions on how to enter are on December 27 blog entry.

Temps are supposed to go down today and tonight, so stairs likely icy in the AM. We will meet at the school at 6:30am.

Please get the entries in for this regatta as soon as possible–deadline is Saturday night.

Please get your entries in for the Ontario Indoors on March 3 at Ridley in St. Catharines! We’re currently sitting at just 6 entries.

And well done this morning! We’ve been on fire since last week and are really on an upward trend. Some really large improvements for you all!

Drum roll, please…… The final tally for yesterday’s effort was:

$1500.98

Well done to all of you! A special thanks to three parents who helped us out in supervising our rowers and making sure nobody put their hands on the beer! Eva said everything went really smoothly and there were no issues–a credit to both our rowers and our parents! A big shout out to Michaela, Kathy & Sue for helping us out! (Sequoia’s Mom, Maggie’s Mom and Maddy D’s Mom!)

Onward and upwards to the final one of the year on the Saturday of Easter weekend, an event that my wife is confidently predicting will do really well, because Easter…like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years…. is “an eating holiday!!!”

Good Sunday morning, everybody! Well done on yesterday’s Fortino’s fundraiser #2! I haven’t finished counting yet, but will hopefully do so today and be able to update you on your efforts. We weren’t nearly as busy bagging yesterday as we were on New Year’s Eve–as my wife Patricia points out, Family Day isn’t really an “eating” holiday! Haha. Nevertheless, the generosity of the community was impressive again and graciously accepted, and your roles in engaging with customers is reflected in that generosity.
I’ve stared working on the rosters for Fortino’s #3. I’ll be asking that any of you who missed yesterday or the first one, please do a double shift on March 31. We’re looking for everybody to average three shifts in total over the three fundraisers. Some have already done three, and one person has done four! Please take the load off your team mates and make your best effort to put three shifts in the books!

Moving forward, please enjoy Family Day tomorrow! If you can get out for a brisk run or other vigorous exercise for 30 minutes, you will benefit. We will reconvene on Tuesday morning at 6:30 at the school, with just a week and a half until the Ontario Indoor Championships at Ridley in St. Catharines on Saturday, March 3. If you haven’t done so, please get your entries in for this regatta.

After that, it will be just one more week of training until March Break, and after that, depending on conditions, experienced rowers who are up to date members of the club could be on the water!! I would encourage our senior rowers, especially those who don’t have a lot of sculling experience, to look into attending the Brock camp over March Break. I will provide info if you are interested. Please see me. We will be running training sessions at Leander over March Break that will be heavily focused on tank work for the novices.

After March Break, there will be three important events:
1. There will be a parents and rowers meeting at the school scheduled, to go over the on water season.
2. There will be a mandatory swim test for all novices who don’t have bronze cross, bronze medallion or lifesaving equivalent. Dates and times TBA.
3. There will be a viewing of the RCA (Rowing Canada) safety video during one of our morning training sessions, followed by a written test.

For novices and rowers who aren’t currently members of Leander, we aren’t allowed to hit the water until April–details will be extensive on that as we move towards spring.

Lastly, there are two upcoming payments. The first will be a membership to Leander BC for the spring season. The amount is $259.90. This covers club insurance and membership with Rowing Canada and RowOntario. I will go through the process on how to register a bit later on. This must be paid by April 1 in order to get on the water. There will be a second payment (amount TBA), that goes to Westdale Rowing, that will cover spring fees (regatta entry fees, regatta miscellaneous fees (such as scratch fees and name change fees), a tent and tent site rental at CSSRA). We are aiming to help you as much as we can in keeping these fees as low as possible. We will dip into our fundraising proceeds to some degree…and we’re providing a mechanism with chili cookoff tickets, to give some money back that can go to fees. Last year, I believe we charged about $75 for our Westdale fees. I can’t promise it will be that low this year, but we will try our best. Please talk to us privately if fees are an issue, as we or the club may be able to provide some assistance in this regard.

Any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask!