2026 RowOn Beach Sprint Cup Launches With Largest Participation in Canadian History

The first round of this year’s RowOn Beach Sprint Cup, held at Lakeside Park Beach in St. Catharines, Ontario, set the record for the highest participation to date for a beach sprint regatta in Canada. The race included a total of 67 entries representing 20 different clubs, and may be a sign that the country’s efforts to grow the sport are paying off.

Canada hosted the last coastal rowing world championships before the era of beach sprint began, and perhaps hasn’t yet had the success in the new discipline expected of a country with such a long rowing tradition. The 2018 World Rowing Coastal Championships were held in Victoria, British Colombia, one year before the inaugural World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals took place in Shenzhen, China. Brienne Miller won Canada’s only medal so far in beach sprint worlds, winning the 2021 women’s solos.

However, experience at the elite level appeared to be a crucial advantage in the race in St. Catharines. The winners of the men’s solos (Raphael Kaiser), women’s solos (Sarah Pidgen) and the under-19 women’s solos (Autumn Prior) all represented Canada at the 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals. So too did Dennis Ovdiyenko, won the mixed double in St. Catharines alongside Kaija Erickson.

The podiums from the first round of the 2026 RowOn Beach Sprint Cup were:

CW1x:

1. Sarah Pidgen – Don Rowing
2. Caitlin Pauls – Ridley Graduate
3. Pippa Soyka Rozendaal – Ridley Graduate

CM1x:

1. Raphael Kaiser – Knowlton
2. Stephen Harris – Brock RC
3. Jacob Thomas – St. Catharines

U19 CW1x:

1. Autumn Prior – Orillia
2. Natalie Bellerby – Don Rowing
3. Naomi Cousins – Ridley College

U19 CM1x:

1. Merik Sommer – St. Catharines
2. Mason Dearborn – St. Catharines
3. Ethan Maroney – Notre Dame RC

Open/U19 CW2x:

1. Alexa McAuliffe, Susanna Temming, Brockville/Texas Rowing Center
2. Autumn Prior, Willow Shepherd – Orillia
3. Ashley De Silva Piques, Isabelle Austen – St. Catharines

Open/U19 CM2x:

1. Boris Osei-Kissi, Oliver Bosak – St. Catharines
2. Avery Haddon, Domenico Patitucci – St. Catharines
3. George-Cooper Seminerio, Mason Dearborn – St. Catherines

Open/U19 CX2x:

1. Dennis Ovdiyenko, Kaija Erickson – Kingston
2. Rheagan Hamm, Josh VanderVaart – St. Catharines
3. Autumn Prior, Raphael Kaiser – Knowlton/Orillia