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The Burnaby Lake Small Boat Invitational consists of a 4km time trial (2x 2km with a 180-degree turn) and a 250m sprint between the top six crews to decide the overall winner. This regatta tests athletes on the two extremes of fitness and racing styles, making for fascinating viewing. Points are awarded for both races, with the 4km time trial counting twice as much as the 250m sprint. The lowest total score wins, and ties are broken based on the 4km time trial ranking.
Eighteen total clubs competed, with Junior, Open, and Master athletes racing together but awarded separately. UBC racked up the most wins with seven, followed by UVic with three, but there was still a great spread of winners with ten different clubs taking an overall title.
Women’s Singles
Fresh off a win at the Western Canadian University Rowing Championships (WCURCs) the day prior, Gabby Yarema of the University of British Columbia (UBC) got off to a strong start in the time trial, with a winning margin of six seconds over Pepper Howe of the University of Victoria (UVic). Howe got the best of Yarema in the sprint to finish first, but Yarema was awarded the overall win on a tie-breaker. Both athletes have recently represented Canada, with Yarema winning bronze at FISU 2024 and Howe placing seventh at the 2025 World University Games. Elena Masyte of UVic placed third in the time trial and fourth in the sprint to take the overall third place – a robust result for the lightweight singles champion at WCURCs the day before.
Top Master and fourth overall went to Kiersten Mort of Nanaimo RC – she raced in The Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta back in 2017. The top Junior was 18-year-old Elyse Jobling of UVic, placing sixth overall behind Rachel Warrington of Simon Fraser University.
Men’s Singles
Sticking with the theme from the women’s singles, it was a rematch between the top heavy and lightweight scullers from WCURCs. Owen Bartel of UBC won the heavyweight single at WCURCs and took top spot in the time trial, two seconds ahead of Giancarlo DiPompeo of UVic, the winning lightweight single sculler from WCURCs. In the 250m sprint, DiPompeo took the top spot by 2.6 seconds. Bartel’s points total awarded him the overall crown. Third and fourth overall went to Braden Durcak and Jack Harris (top Junior), both of UBC, and both minor medallists from WCURCs in the heavy and light singles, respectively. All four of these athletes have represented Canada recently, with Bartel, DiPompeo, and Harris attending their age-group World Rowing Championships, and Durcak racing at the CanAmMex Regatta.
Fifth overall went to Simon Whittaker of UVic, silver medallist at WCURC in the heavy single. Sixth overall and the top Master went to Robert Murray of Seattle Scullers.
Women’s Pairs
Gabriella Worobec and Madelyn Vandermeer of UBC won the time trial and went on to win the overall title, having placed second in the 250m sprint. Sophia Regosa and Marijn Butterfield of UVIc placed fifth in the time trial but shocked the field with a decisive win in the 250m sprint, ending up ranked fourth overall. All four athletes have represented Canada. Worobec is a 2025 U23 World Rowing Championships bronze medallist, Vandermeer raced to fifth place at the World University Games, and Regosa and Butterfield have both made junior national teams. Second overall was Julia Hill and Grace Turner of the University of Calgary, with a strong second place in the time trial and fifth in the sprint – they are the WCURC silver medallists in this event. Julia Reed and Gabrielle Kieser of UVic finished third overall, also matching their WCURC result.
Rounding out the top six were Willow Cherewaty and Ellen Marion of UBC, followed by Danica Ariano and Kaliya Javra of UVic. The top Junior pair was Grace Thornton and Scarlett Chace of Victoria City Rowing Club, and the top Master pair was Lindsay Kelly and Alice Toal of Vancouver Rowing Club.
Men’s Pairs
The UBC crew of Adrian Breen and Liam Smit were undefeated in both the time trial and the sprint, one of only two crews to achieve that feat. In fact, they were undefeated all weekend, winning the pair and eight at WCURC the day prior. Both have been on the national team several times, with Smit even making a senior World Rowing Championships team, so it is no surprise to see their dominance here. Second overall on the tiebreaker went to Oliver Page-Kuhr and Robert Walsh of UBC, who beat their teammates, Ellington Peacock and Declan Blue, in the time trial; however, the order was reversed in the sprint. Fourth overall and the lone non-UBC finalists were Drew Timlin and Thomas Boruta of UVic, who may have made the internal selection battle more interesting with this result – they placed fifth in the time trial and third in the sprint.
Rounding out the top six were two more UBC pairs (showing the amazing depth of their program) – Matthias Shorter and Benjamin Buchheit, followed by Charles Hovermale and Bennett Maijer. The top Junior pair was yet another UBC combo – William Hawkins and James Pickens, and the top Master pair was Jay Eng and Joshua Thomas of Vancouver Rowing Club.
Women’s Doubles
The only other undefeated crew of the regatta was UVic’s women’s double of Kate Watson and Sai Sai Faubert. This duo won the WCURC title in the lightweight double a day earlier and have several University medals together. Faubert was named the 2024 University Female Athlete of the Year and raced at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2024 as well. Second place overall went to their teammates Zoe Scogna and Sasha Fraser, who won bronze in the lightweight double at WCURC. Blaise Beaulieu and Tayler Leerentveld of UBC placed third overall – they placed fourth in the lightweight double at WCURC.
The biggest upset of the category was Sabrina Coram and Stella Hubka of Pocock Youth Rowing, who blazed to second in the sprint after placing fifth in the time trial, ending up fourth overall and the top Junior crew. Ainslie Hebb and Ellery Germer Mills of Pocock placed fifth overall and second for Junior, with Katherine Maloney and Stephanie Payne of Delta Deas winning the Master category with a strong seventh-place finish in the time trial.
Men’s Doubles
The men’s double was another showdown between University lightweights. Louis Ferraro and Max Schiller of UVic finished second in the time trial but won the sprint to take the overall title. These two finished second at WCURC in the lightweight four, and Ferraro has a bronze medal in the lightweight double from the 2024 University Nationals. Henry Sowle and Peter Scaccabarozzi of UBC won the time trial but placed fourth in the sprint for second overall – they picked up silver in the light double and gold in the light four at WCURC one day earlier. Oliver Howard-Batek won gold and Micgill Parcher won bronze in the light double at WCURC for UVic, and brought home the third place overall here with a strong sprint.
Marcus Hogan and Finn Dahlstrom of UBC placed fourth overall, matching their lightweight double placing at WCURC, and won the Junior category. An exciting combination of 16-year-old Petras Masys and 40-year-old Richard Fergie from Vernon Rowing and Dragon Boat Club claimed top Master and fifth overall. University of Calgary crew Kaden Hecker and Landon Foley rounded out the top six – Foley placed fourth in the lightweight single and fifth in the lightweight double at WCURC.
Mixed Doubles
There were only five crews in the time trial and two boats that completed the 250m sprint race, but a well-deserved title went to Jeremy Ketter and Emily Down of Fort Langley Community Rowing Club for placing second in the time trial and winning the sprint. Mariia Kuzmenko and Ryland Holmgren of Vernon Rowing and Dragonboat Club placed second overall and top Junior crew. Although they did not race the sprint, shoutout to Sophie Bishop and Christopher Garrett of Delta Deas for being the only Masters to win the time trial in any event of the regatta.
