Rookie rowers make the nationals

By Amy Geddes - Gulf Islands Driftwood - May 07, 2008

NewS.172.20080506185304.mom_20080507.jpg

Salt Spring’s Natasha Hollingsworth (above, fifth from left) and Cameron Sutherland (below, fifth from left) with their Brentwood College rowing teams. Both island youths sit in the five-seat and are nationals-bound with their teams.

Sutherland and Hollingsworth St. Catherines-bound

Cameron Sutherland, 14, and Natasha Hollingsworth, 16, were dates at a Brentwood College snowball dance. But a dance floor is not where you will most likely find these Salt Spring-raised teenagers.

Both up-and-comers on the Brentwood College rowing team, driving their oars into Mill Bay waters at 5 a.m. is their activity of choice.

Proving they are tailor-made for the sport last week at the Brentwood College Regatta, they helped their crews pull off race times that qualified them for the national secondary school championships to be held in St. Catherines, Ontario from May 30 to June 1.

There must be something lucky about first-year crew members from Salt Spring who sit in the five-seat of a heavyweight, coxed eight crew. Coincidentally, Sutherland and Hollingsworth both occupy the exact same place inside their shells. The only difference is gender: Sutherland is on the men’s team and Hollingsworth on the women’s.

Sutherland’s crew took the gold at the Brentwood regatta, out-stroking the second-place crew by what he said was only about two metres.

But despite the push from their competition’s last-minute pickup, Sutherland said they were secure in their position throughout.

“We were in first place for the whole race. We had a good start and could see all the boats behind us,” he said.

Although their race time qualified them for the nationals, Hollingsworth’s crew finished in fourth place and had anything but a smooth race.

“We almost crashed into another boat in the middle [of the race],” she said. “We were in first and had to fall behind because Vashon Island from Seattle cut us off.”

When they crossed the finish line, they missed third place by only .2 seconds. But it was so close that her crew had to wait until they got back to the dock to find out if they placed third or fourth.

Both Sutherland and Hollingsworth are proving they are made for the sport. Only a year into it, their coaches are urging them to include rowing in their post-secondary plans.

Sutherland, a Grade 9 student, has come a long way since he first tried rowing on St. Mary Lake a year and a half ago.

“I’ve always loved the water and when I heard about the Salt Spring Rowing Club’s learn-to-row program on a spring break, I did that and I loved it.”

When asked what makes him a skilled oarsman, he said, “Well, I try hard. I spend lots of my extra time going for runs and doing fitness.”

Hollingsworth attests to her teammate’s skill, “He is the top Grade 9,” she said. “They did overall physical athletic tests and he won it.”

Sutherland will be competing at the nationals in a heavyweight coxed eight, as well as a heavyweight coxed four.

Like Sutherland, Hollingsworth is excelling at the sport.

When Brentwood’s women’s rowing coach Patricia Steinbrink Kelly first spotted Hollingsworth in the hall, she knew she was built like a rower.

“She’s got good height and is a strong woman,” she said.

Steinbrink Kelly encouraged the student to row, and has had no regrets since.

“She’s a great athlete to work with and she’s very coachable,” she said.

“I think Natasha has a great future in rowing and I’m looking forward to her being my anchor next year and part of my foundation for next year’s crew.”

At the nationals, Hollingsworth will race in a heavyweight coxed eight. And after that she will be vying among her fellow oarswomen for a place in the Brentwood crew that has been invited to race in the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston. This is the first year Brentwood College’s women’s rowing team has been honoured with an invitation to the prestigious event.

Email | Print | Letter to Editor | Share on Facebook

Rookie rowers make the nationals

Most read in your Region

Most read across BC