They didn’t earn places in the men’s championship lineup, but three crews that rowed in the sixth race of the day at the 201st anniversary Royal St. John’s Regatta Wednesday morning at Quidi Vidi Lake had a dash to remember.
The teams — Lamb’s Rum, Hearn Distributing and Embrace Orthodontics — finished less than half a second apart in the five-team race, which featured masters, intermediate and juvenile entries.
Lamb’s Rum won in 10 minutes and 11.85 seconds, just .43 of a second ahead of another masters team, Hearn Distributing (10:12.28).
Embrace Orthodontics, an intermediate team, was third in 10:12.32, only four one-hundreths of a second behind Hearn Distributing.
It was a literal photo finish. Judges had to use a picture taken at the finish line to satisfy everyone that Lamb’s Rum had indeed won,
Regatta Committee president Chris Neary, who was at the finish line for the race, says it was the closest three-way finish he can ever recall,
By the way, the Lamb’s Run crew included two of the most recent inductees into the Royal St. John’s Regatta Hall of Fame, coxswain Graham Roche and rower Darin Hyde, who went into the Hall last week as a member of the 1985 Outer Cove Regatta Ford intermediates.
There was another very close result this morning, although it didn’t feature crews rowing head-to-head.
Harold Hotel, a Placentia entry in the female intermediate, the ninth race of the day, posted a time of 5:30.80. That was less than a third of a second than the Kennedy’s Cleaning Services senior women, who rowed a 5:30.52 earlier in the morning.
That latter time was the fifth-fastest of female crews, meaning Kennedy’s held onto what would be the final berth in the women’s championship berth. It also means, that despite its race victory, Harold Hotel also had to experience some heartbreak in what was a winning result.
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Despite what were, at times, outstanding pond conditions Wednesday, there were no race records set at this year's Regatta.
But the time by Hyflodraulic (5:02:23,) was the third fastest in a women's championship race in the last 14 years, whiile the 9:04.71 put up by Fine Strokes in the final race of the day was the second-fastest in a men's championship since 2007, when Crosbie Industrial set the course record of 8:51.32.
There will be those who suggest that there may have been a Regatta record for selfie pictures, what with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at pondside during the mid-day hours to, among other things, act as the honorary starter for a race.
The PM's presence probably had something to do with the large crowds that showed up Wednesday, with no real noticeable drop-off — certainly over the lunch hours — from the 200th anniversary races of 2018.
It turned cool by the time of the evening championship races, but pleasant weather most of Wednesday — especially compared to the heat of last year — would have also had played a role in the turnout, as perhaps did the attraction of a spruced-up Quidi Vidi, with its brand-new Winners Circle at the Boathouse and major refurbishments on The Boulevard side, allowing for easier placement of, and easier access to, concessions in that area.
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