November 9th 2003, The first edition indoor rowing challenge for Children's Literacy

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Sunday February 6th 2005, the indoor rowing challenge for ALPHABUS

The Indoor Rowing Challenge
Second Edition
Alan Mills, Organiser

February 6th 2005, bright and beautiful, a cloudless sky and unseasonably warm. So what, may you ask, were all those athletes of various shapes and sizes doing in the Gymnasium on Peel St at 10.00 am on a Sunday morning (even if it is the nicest gymnasium in Montréal) ?

Yes, you guessed it, they were there to compete in the Guild's second Indoor Rowing Challenge for Child Literacy and raise money for the ALPHABUS. So the waiting was over, the machines (all brand new) were in place and the Guild's team of volunteers were in position, taking last minute registrations, selling our cookies and, it has to be said, trying with some difficulty to keep their eyes off the better looking athletes (of which there were many).

The chat room

Great pictures

This year saw both team and individual events and entries from outside of the Montréal area (Ottawa and Kingston), so the competition was expected to be intense and we were not disappointed. In the men's team competition, for which the prize was a Concept 2 Model D rowing machine generously donated by the manufacturer, the Goodfellow team from Montréal (which contained last year's individual men's winner Patrick Goodfellow) beat the Queens University crew from Kingston by .2 of a second over the race distance of 2000 metres! An absolutely extraordinary finish, given that the four members of each team are required to row 2000 metres and it's the average time that counts. Winning average time was 6 minutes 22.1 seconds. Think about it!

The Queens team demonstrated both grace and maturity in accepting defeat without complaint, a lesson for many of our so-called “professional” athletes. They have vowed to be back next year and we are looking forward to seeing them again.

Vive l'effort

Gingerbread family on the go

In the individual events, the Men's Open 2000 metres was won by Marc-Antoine Desjardins of Montréal in the scintillating time of 6 minutes 13.5 seconds. This needs to be put into perspective. In the British Open Championship which attracted over 2700 contestants in December 2004, Marc-Antoine's time would have put him second in his age category and in the overall top 50 racers in the company of Olympic rowers and those in training for the world famous Oxford and Cambridge boat race to be held next month on the Thames. Serious stuff! In fact the overall times for the Men's Open were of a consistently high standard, with no less than 50% of the competitors putting in sub 6 minute 30 second times. Our event certainly attracts quality! Not to be outdone, Audra Vair from Ottawa won the Women's open event in 7, 14.5, edging out Kristina Roic also from Ottawa who posted a time of 7, 17.3. Both of these athletes are in their very early 20's, so we expect them to do even better next year on their return visit.

The masters

Queens

Finally we must mention the performance of Guild member “Fred” Chapron in the recreational 1000 metre race. Her first time on the Concept 2 rower and Fred was second in the women's section by less than one second! Chapeau Chapron!!!

So a great day, lots of positive “ambiance” and many congratulatory emails since then.

Next year we need more rowers and supporters. We expect to see you then.

The winners