Two South Cariboo Rowing Club members were on the water at the 2014 Canadian Masters Rowing Championships, hosted by the Burnaby Lake Rowing Club, July 19-20.
Jack Jenkins of 108 Mile Ranch placed third with a time of 4 minutes 16 seconds in the men’s G final singles race, a 1000-meter sprint race in the masters 65-70 age category, coming home with a bronze medal.
Cheryl Howard of Forest Grove raced a women’s quad and a women’s double in the F category with the Delta Deas Rowing Club, of Delta, advancing to the finals in doubles and finishing fourth with a time of 4 minutes 26 seconds.
Jenkins says it was a great event and he was happy with his results. He came in about 11 seconds behind the first place rower, four seconds behind second place and five seconds ahead of fourth place. “There's some room for improvement, but that's why you keep doing it,” he says. “I was hoping for a couple seconds quicker. But every second takes more training and work to get that off your time.”
Jenkins trains on Watson Lake. Rowing, like the cross country skiing he does in the winter, is a great way to stay in shape, he says.
“The people you see rowing, of any age, are in excellent condition,” he continues, before poking a bit of fun at his own age.
“As I told somebody recently, racing is all a matter of who shows up. And then who's still alive. If you live long enough, you'll eventually get a medal.”
South Cariboo Rowing Club members have a number of rowing events coming up this fall.