Festival Park at Oak Hollow Lake, – High Point Rowing Club will host the North Carolina Youth Rowing State Championships on April 22, 2017, the regatta committee co-chairs Jeanne MacPherson and Mandy Greene are pleased to announce.
This will be the first ever state championship for youth rowing in North Carolina, which is the result of discussions among the head coaches of North Carolina’s premier rowing clubs: Ashevile Youth Rowing, Belmont Rowing Club, Charlotte Youth Rowing, High Point Rowing Club, and Triangle Rowing Club.
High Point’s Festival Park at Oak Hollow Lake was unanimously selected by coaches as the venue for its central location and the local organizing committee’s proven success at hosting regional rowing events. In 2016 High Point hosted two spring regattas and also the High Point Autumn Rowing Festival on Oak Hollow Lake.
Festival Park offers spectators unobstructed views of the entire 1,500 meter race course from an elevated location.
In addition to Asheville, Charlotte, Triangle, Belmont, and High Point, a new crew, Jordan Lake Rowing Club, emerged in 2016 and will also participate in the state championships.
High Point will be racing as HPG Rowing, the umbrella for High Point and Greensboro Crew.
Whilst rowing is one of the oldest sports in America, it is still very new in the Tar Heel state. “With just six youth rowing clubs, North Carolina is still very much in the pioneering phase for this sport,” says High Point club founder Gene Kininmonth. “This presents us with lots of opportunities but also a lot of challenges when folks in our local communities are not familiar with rowing.”
Kininmonth says that in addition to the six teams racing Saturday, there have been perhaps another dozen failed attempts to start rowing clubs in North Carolina in recent years. “So, I am truly in awe of all the coaches running these successful rowing clubs. The state championship will be as much a celebration of rowing as it is a competition.”
The six clubs have entered seventy two boats to race in 35 events for the inaugural NC Youth Rowing State Championships.
Coxswains and coaches will meet with referees at 9am in front of the Command Center.
Racing is slated to begin at 10am.
All rowers, boat trailers, and spectators should enter the lake at Festival Park:
1841 Eastchester Dr, High Point, NC 27265.
Rowing participants are advised to wear flip flops for ‘wet launching’ their boats.
