After a month of competition in blustery spring conditions, Vashon’s junior rowers traveled to Canada for the 46th Annual Brentwood Regatta. Its weather atoned for everything with three days of sparkling conditions on the shore of Vancouver Island at Brentwood College — a private high school located 30 miles north of Victoria.

In recent years, attendees of this event have become accustomed to layered clothing, rain gear and shivering. This year, it was shorts, shirtsleeves and sunscreen. The juniors sleep on the gym floors, eat at the school cafeteria, row the 1500-meter course by day and attend street dances by night, leaving their parents some time to explore the area and gather for potlucks and dinners at local restaurants. It is the favorite regatta of the year for most juniors (and their parents).

Races proceed with a clock-like cadence every seven minutes. The finish line area is punctuated by about a minute of screaming with teammates and parents urging their rowers to either hold on or catch up. Then six minutes of calm until the next race comes down the course. A total of 190 races are completed in just over two days of racing.

Vashon’s crew competed in a total of 41 races. Juniors returned with four gold, one silver and three bronze medals in this highly competitive event.

Winning Vashon crews were the women’s double — competing as lightweights — Virginia Miller and Maddie McEachern, lightweight women’s eight (Maya Gould — stroke, Lelah Assink, Sam Zeigler, Mabel Moses, Ruta Milewski, Olivia White, Ivy Jaguzny, Brigit O’Rourke and Ellie Lande — coxswain), the men’s quad (Connor van Egmond — stroke, Seth Rosen, Rohin Petram, Cooper Py and Kale Scheer — coxswain) and the novice men’s quad (Aidan Teachout — stroke, Oz Hichens, Nelson Giorgini, Jack Monroe and Lucca Shattuck — coxswain). The silver medal winning boat was the novice women’s quad. Third place medals were won by the JV men’s quad, the open women’s double and the lightweight women’s four.

“It was great to see our young team performing so well at one of the world’s biggest regattas, and bringing back four gold medals was outstanding,” head coach Richard Parr said.”

Next Saturday, a small number of Vashon Junior and Masters crews have been invited to participate in the Windermere Cup races at University of Washington’s Montlake Cut as part of the annual Opening Day festivities.

— Pat Call is the father of a junior rower.