Regatta Package: RowOn Indoor Hat Trick

Welcome

The RowOn Indoor Hat Trick is Row Ontario's new festival-style indoor rowing regatta, hosted with Sport Niagara. Every athlete races three short events, in a fixed order, in one day: Peak Power, the Three-Minute Test and Step Up or Out.

The event is open to all ages and abilities, from first-time rowers to masters. Athletes choose Novice or Experienced when they enter, using the definition under Categories. Their age category comes from their date of birth. Each athlete is placed in categories from the information they give when they enter, and can be recognized in more than one.

At a glance

Date: Sunday 15 November 2026
Racing: 10 a.m. to about 12:45 p.m.; closing awards to about 1:15 p.m.
Venue: Canada Games Park, Thorold, in the Field House. 2021 Canada Games Way, Thorold, ON L2V 4Y6
Events: Event 1: Peak Power. Event 2: Three-Minute Test. Event 3: Step Up or Out. Every athlete races all three.
Entry: On RegattaCentral, capped at 100 athletes
Entry fee: $33.00 per athlete. One entry covers all three events.
Entry deadline: Sunday 8 November, 11:59 p.m.
Equipment: 6 race ergometers (Concept2 RowErgs with PM5 monitors) plus spares, supplied by the organizers
Governing rules: Rowing Canada's Rules of Racing, including Appendix 3, Indoor Rowing
Spectators: Free. Everyone attending is invited to bring a non-perishable food item for Feed Niagara.

Key dates

Entries open: Friday 16 October, 8 a.m.
Entry deadline: Sunday 8 November, 11:59 p.m.
Preliminary draw: Planned for Monday 9 November
Meeting for athletes, coaches and team contacts: Sunday 15 November 2026, 9:20 a.m., at race control
First race: Sunday 15 November 2026, 10 a.m.
Official results: On the results page and each athlete's private page, as each heat is confirmed

Entries and fees

Entries are on RegattaCentral, and one entry covers all three events.

Fees

The entry fee is $33.00 per athlete, and one entry covers all three events. Payment is due when entering.

Estimates

When entering, each athlete is asked for an estimate of their peak watts and of the distance they can row in 3 minutes. These are used only to group the waves for Events 1 and 2. An estimate of 0 means no estimate.

Places

Entries are capped at 100 athletes.

Refunds

Athletes who withdraw on RegattaCentral before the entry deadline (Sunday 8 November, 11:59 p.m.) receive a full refund. No refunds are given after the entry deadline.

Substitutions

An entered athlete who is ill or injured may be replaced before their first race by an athlete from the same club or school, with notice to the organizers by 9 a.m. on race day.

Eligibility and competitor definition

Competitors

For this regatta, a competitor is an athlete entered in the regatta who has paid the entry fee. Come and Try participants are not competitors.

Age

There is no minimum age. Ages are counted as of 31 December 2026. Athletes must be able to show proof of age (government or school photo ID) if asked.

Athletes under 18

Every athlete under 18 needs a responsible adult at the venue: their club or school coach, or an adult named by a parent or guardian.

Registration

Club athletes enter with their Rowing Canada registration. Athletes with no Rowing Canada registration may enter as Unaffiliated through RegattaCentral.

Rowan's Law

Each athlete under 26, and the parent or guardian of each athlete under 18, must confirm at registration that they have reviewed Row Ontario's concussion awareness resources.

The three events

The three events are raced in a fixed order on the same Concept2 RowErgs with PM5 monitors.

Event 1: Peak Power

Each athlete has one 3-⁠minute window, starting on "Row", and makes three maximal efforts within it, resting as they choose between efforts.

Result: the highest watts recorded on any single stroke in the window. The Event 1 results are used to group athletes for Event 3.

Event 2: Three-Minute Test

Row as far as possible in 3 minutes, head-to-head with the rest of the wave.

Result: the distance in metres at 3:00. Results from every wave are combined, and each athlete is placed within their division.

Event 3: Step Up or Out

Everyone starts at the same 30-⁠watt target. Every 30 seconds the target rises by 30 watts: Stage 1 is 30 watts, Stage 2 is 60 watts, Stage 3 is 90 watts, and so on. The current target is shown on screen.

Every stroke must be at or above the current target. A stroke below the target is a strike. Three strikes within one stage ends the athlete's climb. The strike count starts again at every new stage.

Stopping does not avoid strikes: a pause of 6 seconds or more without a stroke counts as missed strokes, so a stage cannot be cleared by resting.

A screen at each race ergometer shows the athlete their current target, their watts and their strikes.

Result: the highest stage reached plus the seconds completed within it, for example "Stage 9 + 17 s". A higher stage ranks ahead; within the same stage, more seconds ranks ahead. There is no upper limit.

The system checks every stroke against the target. Umpires make the live decisions and can override.

Ties

In every event, athletes with the same result share the place.

Order of events (provisional)

The day is run event by event. Everyone races Event 1, then Event 2, then Event 3, in waves of up to 6 athletes. One wave races at a time, and every lane in the wave starts together.

9 a.m. to 10 a.m.: Doors open. Check-in and warm-up: each athlete checks in at least 30 minutes before their first wave.
9:20 a.m.: Meeting for athletes, coaches and team contacts, at race control: an overview of the day and the race format, with questions
9:30 a.m.: Technical rehearsal: a practice heat in Event 1's format with six demo rowers, so athletes, supporters and volunteers can see the start, the big screens and the lane screens. It does not count.
10 a.m. to about 10:30 a.m.: Event 1, Peak Power: 6 waves, about 5 minutes apart
About 10:30 a.m. to about 10:55 a.m.: Break: recovery while the field moves to its Event 2 waves
About 10:55 a.m. to about 11:25 a.m.: Event 2, Three-Minute Test: 6 waves, about 5 minutes apart
About 11:25 a.m. to about 11:50 a.m.: Break: recovery. The Event 3 waves are built from the Peak Power results and posted.
About 11:50 a.m. to about 12:45 p.m.: Event 3, Step Up or Out: 6 waves of about 9 minutes each
About 12:45 p.m. to about 1:15 p.m.: Closing awards

On race day the Come and Try area at the main entrance is open too, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., free and for all ages.

These times are planned for 36 athletes, where the last wave in each event has 6 athletes. Once the draw is posted, each athlete's own page gives their own waves and times. The plan gives every athlete at least 25 minutes between events. The marshal calls each wave.

Draw, seeding and progression

Progression

Every event is treated as a time trial. There are no semi-finals or finals. Results from all waves are combined and ranked within each category.

Seeding

The Event 1 waves are seeded from the estimated peak watts given when entering, and the Event 2 waves from the estimated three-minute distance. Athletes who give no estimate are grouped by club, school or age category.

The Event 3 waves are built on the day from the actual Event 1 results, so athletes climb beside others of similar peak power. This is the only re-seed of the day. The Event 3 wave lists are posted at race control and on the venue screens during the second break.

Seeding decides who races together. It never changes the event: every athlete starts Step Up or Out at the same 30-⁠watt target and climbs the same stages.

Draw

The draw is prepared by the Organizing Committee and is planned to be published on Monday 9 November. It sets each athlete's Event 1 and Event 2 waves and lanes; once it is posted, each athlete's own page shows their planned waves, lanes and times. Athletes do not choose their lane.

Racing rules

Start procedure

Every wave starts on the same 30-⁠second countdown, shown on every screen at once. The PA plays:

25 seconds: "Everyone stop rowing": athletes stop and prepare
9 seconds: "Sit ready"
5 seconds: "Attention"
3, 2, 1: A short tick at each
0: The start tone, with a green signal on the screens. Row on the tone.

The start is given by the race system's countdown, shown on the screens at every erg and sounded over the PA. The starter oversees every start.

The horn and the stage calls

Events 1 and 2 end with a horn over the PA at 3:00. The result is taken at the horn, on the race system's clock, and an athlete's monitor may still show a second left when it sounds.

Ten seconds after the horn, the next wave is usually called to the race ergs.

In Event 3, each new stage is announced over the PA: two ticks, a tone on the stage time, then the stage and its target, for example "Stage 2, 60 watts".

Equipment and conduct

Athletes race on the ergometer in their assigned lane. No personal equipment, monitors, phones or modifications, except approved adaptive equipment.

Athletes may set the damper before the start of each event. It may not be changed during the event.

Clothing must not interfere with the ergometer: loose clothing is tucked in and long hair tied back.

Coaching from the side of the race area is not permitted during a wave. Spectators stay behind the barrier line.

Equipment failure: if an ergometer or monitor fails during a wave, the athlete stops and raises a hand. Spare ergometers are set up and ready, and the Chief Umpire decides whether the athlete re-rows in a later wave.

Results, scoring and recognition

Results

Results appear live on the venue screens.

A heat's results are official when the umpire confirms the heat. Official results go on each athlete's own page, the public results page and the board.

An athlete's place in their division shows once every heat of that event in their division is confirmed.

If the event technology fails, racing continues on printed score sheets, with an official reading each monitor.

ResultsOfficial results by event and division

Each athlete's private page

Each athlete has an individual link to their own page. It needs no login, and anyone who has the link can open the page. The link email went out the day after the draw was posted. A late entry gets theirs once they are added to the draw. The page and the public results stay online for 90 days after the event.

For each event, when their erg records their strokes, a race report made from them is added to the athlete's page. Where none were recorded, the page says there is no race report for that event.

The link email went to the RegattaCentral account that entered the athlete. For a club entry, that account got one email with its athletes' individual links and a request to pass each link on to its athlete. There is no separate copy for a parent or guardian. An athlete whose link does not reach them can ask at the check-in desk on race day.

More about the link, and who can see the page:

Your link and who can see it

How the Hat Trick is scored

In each event, athletes earn points for their place within each category they belong to. Points are added up across the three events. The points scale is the same whatever the size of the category, and every athlete who completes an event earns points.

Athletes are ranked overall and by gender, age category, Novice or Experienced, Para and Inclusion, and club.

Power Efficiency Rating: the target of the highest stage an athlete fully cleared in Step Up or Out, divided by their Peak Power result. It shows how much of their peak power an athlete keeps using as the climb gets long. It has its own ranking across all categories.

The Hat Trick: first place, outright, in all three events within the same category. It is a recognition award and carries no bonus points.

Club standings add up the points earned by each club's athletes; schools count as clubs. Unaffiliated athletes are not included in club standings.

Recognition

Recognition is by certificate. Certificates are digital, and none are printed at the venue. Each athlete can share theirs as an image or as a web page of its own, or download a PDF to print at home. A certificate is ready once every heat in the athlete's division is official in all three events. Each athlete's certificate leads with the category where they placed highest.

The closing awards recognize category champions, the top Power Efficiency Rating and any Hat Tricks.

Protests

A protest about a ruling or a published result must be made in writing to the Chief Umpire within one hour of the ruling, or of the result being posted at race control (Rules of Racing, Rule 10.14). No deposit is required at this regatta (see Exceptions to the Rules of Racing).

An objection to a result can be lodged with the Chief Umpire within 20 minutes of the result being published. There is no fee. The Chief Umpire decides it, and the decision is final on the day. Where it is a question of measurement and the erg recorded the strokes, the Chief Umpire decides from the recorded stroke data.

Race-day information

Arrival and check-in

The event is at Canada Games Park, Thorold. Follow the signs to the Field House; parking is on site.

Doors open at 9 a.m. Check in at least 30 minutes before your first wave; your page shows its time. The check-in desk is at the main entrance.

Check-in confirms your lane. There is no wristband and no race slip. An athlete under 18 checks in with their coach or the adult named for them.

Withdrawals on race day are reported to the check-in desk.

Warm-up and marshalling

A warm-up and cool-down area with ergometers sits next to the race area, for athletes and coaches only.

Be in the staging area 5 minutes before your planned race; your page shows the time. The marshal calls each wave and brings it to the race ergs during the last minute of the race before. Approach your ergometer from behind, ready to sit, strap in and start.

The race day map: the warm-up area, athlete staging, the race ergs and the recognition station

After racing, cool down in the warm-up area. Your certificate is digital and is ready once every heat in your division is official in all three events.

What to bring

A water bottle
Clean indoor shoes
Comfortable clothes you can row in
A warm layer for between events

A water station is available at the venue.

Spectators

Spectators are welcome at no charge, with seating beside the race area and viewing from above. There is step-free access from the parking to the Field House, to the seating beside the race area, and by elevator to the viewing area above.

For family, friends and coaches:

I'm supporting someone

Come and Try

The Come and Try area at the main entrance is free and open to anyone from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on race day. Each try is 10 minutes, and anyone under 18 takes part with a parent or guardian present. Coaches guide each participant through a first two minutes on the machine. Come and Try results are not part of the competition.

The Come and Try page has the booking. Drop-ins are welcome when a machine is free.

Come and TryFor anyone new to rowing: a free 10-⁠minute try, not a race

Food drive

Everyone attending is invited to bring a non-perishable food item in support of Feed Niagara and local community initiatives.

Health and safety

Medical support is on site for the whole event.

All three events are all-out efforts. If you have a heart, breathing or other health condition that hard exercise could affect, check with your doctor before you race. Stop rowing and tell a staff member if you feel unwell at any point.

Any athlete with a suspected concussion is removed from the event for the day under Rowan's Law and Row Ontario's concussion protocol.

The Safe Sport policies of Rowing Canada and Row Ontario apply to everyone at the event. A concern can be raised with any Row Ontario staff member, or through Rowing Canada's Safe Sport page:

Rowing Canada's Safe Sport page

Exceptions to the Rules of Racing

Rowing Canada's Rules of Racing, including Appendix 3 (Indoor Rowing), apply in full except as follows (Rule 7.1):

1. Starting procedure (Rule 10.2, Appendix 4): A synchronized 30-⁠second countdown start on the race screens and over the PA, as set out under Racing rules.
2. Protests (Rule 10.14): No deposit is required with a protest.

Contact

Questions about the regatta:

kate@rowontario.ca