Your day, step by step
- EnterEntries are on RegattaCentral. They close Sunday 8 November, 11:59 p.m., or when all 100 places are taken.
- The draw and your linkOn Monday 9 November the draw was posted, and the link email went out the day after. A late entry gets theirs once they are added to the draw.
- Before the dayOnce the draw is posted, your page shows your planned waves, lanes and times for Events 1 and 2. Your Event 3 wave is set on race day, from the Event 1 results.
- Race dayDoors open at 9 a.m. Check in at least 30 minutes before your first wave; your page shows its time. It also shows when to be in the staging area, and the marshal calls each wave.
- After each heatAfter the umpire confirms your heat, your result is official and goes on your page. When your erg records your strokes, a race report for that event, made from them, is added to your page.
- After the dayYour certificate is ready once every heat in your division is official in all three events. Your page and the results stay online for 90 days. A thank-you email with a short feedback ask is planned.
Before you enter
Who can enter
Anyone of any age and ability, from first-time rowers to masters: there is no minimum age. Club athletes enter with their Rowing Canada registration, and athletes without one enter as Unaffiliated.
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.
Categories
Each athlete is placed in categories from what they give when they enter, and can be recognized in more than one.
- Age: U15, U17, U19, Open or Masters, from your date of birth.
- Gender: Women, Men or Open. Athletes enter in the category they identify with; anyone who self-describes or prefers not to say races in Open.
- Novice or Experienced: the RegattaCentral event you enter decides it. Novice means you started rowing, on water or indoor, in the year before race day, or you have never raced in a sanctioned regatta. Everyone else is Experienced.
- Para: Para rowing classes PR1 to PR3, Rowing Canada's classes. Athletes give their class when they enter; formal classification is not needed at this event. A Para class shows with the athlete's results, like a division.
Adapted equipment is limited to what the organizers can supply. To plan equipment and support before entering, email:
Your two estimates
When you enter, RegattaCentral asks for an estimate of your peak watts and of the distance you can row in 3 minutes. They are used only to group the waves for Events 1 and 2. An estimate of 0 means no estimate, and athletes with no estimate are grouped by club, school or age category.
How to enter
Entries are on RegattaCentral, and one entry covers all three events.
Your three events
Every athlete races all three events on Concept2 RowErgs with PM5 monitors. 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.
Event 1: Peak Power
One 3-minute window, starting on "Row". Make three maximal efforts in it, resting as you choose between them. Your result is the highest watts of any single stroke in the window. The Event 1 results set the waves for Event 3, so you climb beside athletes of similar peak power.
Event 2: Three-Minute Test
Row as far as you can in 3 minutes, head-to-head with the rest of your wave. Your result is 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.
Every stroke must be at or above the current target, and a stroke below it is a strike. Three strikes in one stage ends the climb, and the count starts again at each new stage. 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 your erg shows the target, your watts and your strikes.
Your result is the highest stage you reach plus the seconds you complete in it, for example "Stage 9 + 17 s". There is no upper limit.
The start
Every start is the same 30-second countdown. You will hear "Everyone stop rowing", "Sit ready" and "Attention", three short ticks, then the start tone. Row on the tone.
The countdown is also shown on the screen at every erg.
The horn and the calls
Events 1 and 2 end with a horn at 3:00. Stop at the horn: your result is taken at the horn, and your monitor may still show a second left.
Ten seconds after the horn, the next wave is usually called to the ergs.
In Event 3, each new stage is called: two ticks, a tone, then the stage and its watts, such as "Stage 2, 60 watts".
Your link and who can see it
Your individual link opens your own page. It shows your planned waves, lanes and times, then on race day where to be and when, each official result with its race report where your erg recorded your strokes, and your certificate.
Who can see it
- Anyone who has your link can open your page. There is no login.
- The link email went to the RegattaCentral account that entered you. 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.
- Your certificate has its own address to share, separate from your link.
- Results are public: the results page shows each athlete's name, club and division with their official results, and the boards show names and clubs during racing.
- This site counts visits and clicks with Google Analytics, which uses cookies, to see which pages help. Your individual link and your name are never sent to it.
How long it stays online
Your page and the public results stay online for 90 days after the event.
If you lose your link or it does not reach you
Ask at the check-in desk on race day, or email:
For parents and guardians
Your athlete's page shows their own waves, times, results and certificate, with a race report for each event where their erg recorded their strokes. Anyone who has its link can open it, with no login. The link email went to the RegattaCentral account that entered your athlete. For a club entry, the email asked that account to pass each athlete their own link. There is no separate copy for a parent or guardian. If you entered your athlete yourself, the email came to you. Otherwise, ask your athlete or the person who entered them for the link. If the link does not reach your athlete, they can ask at the check-in desk on race day. 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.
On the day
Getting there and checking 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.
Warming up
The warm-up area, next to the race area, has ergs for warming up and cooling down. It is for athletes and coaches only.
Staging and the start
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 erg from behind, ready to sit, strap in and start.
Your race day map
Text version of the map
Plan: may change on the day. Simplified plan, not to scale.
The map has the big screens at the top. Left and right are as you face the big screens.
- Big screens
- Two big screens at the top end of the hall. The race ergs face them.
- Race area and race ergs
- 6 race ergs in one row, facing the big screens.
- Race control
- Just behind the race ergs.
- Athlete staging
- On the left side, between the warm-up area and the race ergs.
- Recognition station
- On the right side, between race control and the spectator seating.
- Spectator seating
- Along the right side of the hall, facing the race area.
- Warm-up area
- At the doors end, below the race area. Ergs for warming up and cooling down, for athletes and coaches only.
- Doors and check-in
- The doors to the lobby are at the bottom end of the hall, opposite the big screens. The check-in desk is at the main entrance, outside the hall. Check in at least 30 minutes before your first wave.
Your path
- Warm-up area. For athletes and coaches, open at any time once the doors open.
- Athlete staging. Be here 5 minutes before your planned race. Your page shows the time.
- Race ergs. The marshal brings each wave from staging to the race ergs. Go to your erg from behind.
- After your race. Leave the race area towards the recognition station.
The recognition station
Your certificate and your race moments on its own big screen, once they are ready.
Your certificate is ready once your division is final in all three events.
Take a photo on your own phone.
What to bring
- A water bottle
- Clean indoor shoes
- Comfortable clothes you can row in
- A warm layer for between events
The order of the day
These times are planned for 36 athletes. Once the draw is posted, your page gives your own waves and times.
- Doors open
- 9 a.m.
- Technical rehearsal
- At 9:30 a.m. 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.
- Event 1, Peak Power
- 10 a.m. to about 10:30 a.m.
- Break
- To about 10:55 a.m.
- Event 2, Three-Minute Test
- About 10:55 a.m. to about 11:25 a.m.
- Break
- To about 11:50 a.m.
- Event 3, Step Up or Out
- About 11:50 a.m. to about 12:45 p.m.
- Closing awards
- To about 1:15 p.m.
Results and recognition
Official results
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.
Places
Your place in your division shows once every heat of that event in your division is confirmed. Athletes with the same result share the place.
Race reports
For each event, when your erg records your strokes, a race report made from them goes on your page. Where none were recorded, your page says there is no race report for that event.
Certificates
Certificates are digital, and none are printed at the venue. Your certificate is ready once every heat in your division is official in all three events. You can share it as an image or as a web page of its own, or download a PDF to print at home.
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