There were no french fries, no lineups at the bathroom, there’s not much mess to clean up this morning and cell phone capacity was not an issue. Yes, things were very different at the 2021 Royal St. John’s Regatta as It lacked the social aspect but the boat races were still the centerpiece.
NTV, who were on top of the mountain for a few years in the ’90s, fell off for a couple of decades but climbed back on top yesterday after claiming the men’s championship in a time of 9:36.99, just under four seconds faster than their morning victory time. Belfor was eight seconds off the pace in the morning race but 15 seconds in the championship.
Hyflodraulic dominated the field from start to finish in both the female amateur and the championship race, coming in at 5:08.31 in the morning and 5:10.99 in the grand finale. They also won the last Regatta in 2019, and are the first women’s crew to go in the final race of the day. Until now, women went first, men last.
NTV crewmembers went the extra mile training for the Regatta this year and credit their access to training facilities. They say that NTV has a dedicated gym space, noting that many employees of the station end up rowing competitively.
Hyflodraulic crewmembers say they will be back next year. The younger ones credit the older ones as being the “engine room” of the boat. According to one crewmember the engine room consists of a 44-year-old and a 46-year-old, noting that they are an “inspiration to anybody.”
Not so long ago, interest in the sport of rowing was beginning to wane in the region, so the Royal St. John’s Regatta Committee instituted a program to entice young ones. Well, we may have seen the payback yesterday.
Universal Corporate Wear, a midget female crew which has been together since age 10 in the squirt program, was eying a record after some good times in a year when it was most difficult to achieve such, missed out on a 20-year-old record by three seconds.
Coxswain Maria Roche knew they were close. She says they had a good race plan going into it and hoped to break the record. Roche says they are a little disappointed, but still very proud of their strong finish.