It was an exciting finish as the UVic Vikes men's eight rowing team clinched gold and the Vikes finished third overall at the Canadian University Rowing Championships in Welland, Ont., on Nov. 5 and 6.
The Vikes recorded 88 points to finish 11 behind second place finishers Trent University. UBC won the event with 108 points. "It was one of the most exciting races I've seen in quite some time," said Vikes head coach Aalbert Van Schothorst. The Vikes left the gates with a strong start and they strode out to 35 strokes per minute in a long aggressive rhythm. This had them in fourth place at the 1250 metre mark of a two-kilometer race. With about 1250 metres left to go, the Vikes flicked the switch into overdrive and began to claw past the leaders one at a time. With about 100 meters to go the Vikes trailed UBC who had moved into the lead. Coxswain Bailey Kulman called the finish push and the Vikes powered through UBC to come across the line for the win. "It was an exceptional finish against a strong field, they stuck to the plan and showed a tremendous amount of trust in the process and the work that they'd done leading to the event" said Van Schothorst. The other podium result of the day came in the form of Taylor Perry's second place finish in the single. Perry finished with a time of 7:24 and was a full five seconds ahead of the third place finisher. "He has been coming back from an injury and he had a strong performance. It was a great step in the right direction for him and I look forward to seeing him at the top of his game," said Van Schothorst. On the lightweight side, second-year Vike Patrick Keane showed true leadership for a sophomore in a very young crew. "Patrick Keane put in a tremendous performance every race and showed strong leadership helping the lightweight team; that will pay off in the long run," said Van Schothorst. The honours for the Vikes didn't end on the water, however: after the championship, Van Schothorst was named the Canadian University Rowing coach of the year. The Vikes will now move indoors to begin preparing for the Canadian Indoor Championship, better known as the Monster Erg, hosted at the University of Victoria on Jan, 22, 2017. UVIC MEN FINAL RESULTS 8+1st – 5:59.7 (Gold)Lucien Brodeur, Brett Larson, Travis Gronsdahl, Daan Arscott, Mathew Szymanowski, Taylor Perry, Mark Davies, Adam Donaldson, Bailey Kulman (coxswain) Lwt 2x5th – 7:23Idjen Cabral, Patrick Keane Lwt 1x4th – 7:25.7Patrick Keane 1x2nd – 7:24 (Silver)Taylor Perry Lwt 4+5th – 7:01.2Amir Harding, Christopher Clarke, Idjen Cabral, Patrick Keane, Andrea Chan (Coxswain) 2-6th– 7:38.2Adam Donaldson, Mark Davies