BRUDENELL, P.E.I. – The Red Island Regatta is returning to the Brudenell River Saturday after a one-year hiatus and, for one P.E.I. rower, it will be a chance to compete in front of family and friends.
Shannon MacAulay of Mount Herbert is a relative newcomer to rowing. She spent six years with Hockey Canada and played for Team Canada at the 2016 Nations Cup as a member of the National Women’s Development Team. She also won an NCAA Division 1 championship with the Clarkson Knights, scoring the game-winning goal on a breakaway.
She was recruited into rowing through the RBC Training Ground program and has been training hard with the North Star Rowing Club in Dartmouth, N.S., since May.
MacAulay has competed at two rowing competitions so far: the Nova Scotia Sprints on Lake Banook in July and, most recently, at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ont.
On Saturday, she will compete closer to home.
The Red Island Regatta will feature 1,000-metre sprint races in the morning in front of the Rodd Brudenell resort. The finish line is close to the Brudenell marina.
In the afternoon, the rowers will switch to coastal boats and compete on a 2.3-km course along the river towards Georgetown and back. They will be launching from the beach on Brudenell Island.
Competitors are coming from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to row, including a varsity team from St. FX. There will also be 10 entries from the host club, Rowing P.E.I.
“We are excited to showcase our sport on the beautiful Brudenell River and hope Prince Edward Islanders will take advantage of this opportunity to see some great competition, including the relatively new sport of coastal rowing,” said Russ Bryden, co-chairman of the regatta.
Home base for the event will be Activity Centre in Brudenell Provincial Park. Spectators are welcome to come down to the water and cheer on the rowers.
The races begin at 7:30 a.m. and will wrap up by 4:30 p.m.
Regatta organizers are thankful for the support they’ve received from premiere sponsor, East Coast Docks, the governments of P.E.I. and Canada, the Montague Waterfront Development Corporation, P.E.I. Parks, HMCS Queen Charlotte and Tranquility Cove Adventures.
Rowing P.E.I. was formed in 2010 with the loan of a recreational fleet from Rowing Canada Aviron. The club now has about 50 members, rowing out of the Charlottetown Yacht Club. Rowing P.E.I. offers Learn to Row programs regularly through the summer.
For more information: www.rowingpei.ca
