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Published: 9/25/2011 - Updated: 8 months ago

Annual Frogtown Races Regatta draws 1,200 rowers, 3,000 fans

BY MIKE SIGOV
BLADE STAFF WRITER

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Editor's note: This version corrects the number of events that were entered in the regatta.

Dense fog on the Maumee River in downtown Toledo Saturday morning delayed an annual regatta but failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of participants, spectators, and organizers.

“I am having a great time,” said Jeff Peters, 42, of Toledo. “The sun is out so it has turned out to be a gorgeous day. It’s good to be outside. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing right now.”

The father of Ethan Peters, a 14-year-old Central Catholic High School freshman competing in the 4-man boat novice race, said the only downside of the fog was the two-hour delay of the races. He was one of the estimated 3,000 spectators who lined the river bank at International Park, watching boats race by in the Toledo Rowing Club’s 26th Annual Frogtown Races Regatta, presented by Owens Corning, which finally started at 10 a.m.

About 1,200 rowers — high school students and adults primarily from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania — raced over a three-mile course, which started just upstream of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge and ended at  the stern of the S.S. Col. James M. Schoonmaker Boat Museum, formerly the S.S. Willis B. Boyer.

They competed on 47 teams on 323 boats in 32 events. Of the regatta's 57 events, 15 were not entered. Boats started about every 15 to 20 seconds, with the goal of catching up with the boats that were ahead and not getting passed by those behind.

The usually less than bust­ling park was full of athletic-looking people having a lot of fun. Some were getting ready to race at the boat launch area by the park’s gazebo where cheers could be heard coming from group-hugging high school teams. Others were rushing to the vendors’ tents on the other side of the park, and still others were watching their competitors race.

“I feel pretty good,” said Garret Navarette, 18, a senior at St. John’s Jesuit High School & Academy. “We rode well in ‘varsity 8,’ [finishing] among the top few of the eight boats in the race. I just enjoy the team aspect of it. It’s a challenge to push myself and this is one of the best sports to do it.”

Mr. Navarette added that despite the dense fog hanging over the river when he first got to the regatta site about 6:15 a.m. he never doubted that  organizers were going to wait out the fog rather than cancel the event.

On the opposite side of the park, closer to the Schoonmaker, the smell of barbecue was rising over the grills manned by members of the Notre Dame Academy Crew Parents Association.

“Everything is moving smoothly,” Greg Churilla, president of the association, said. “We have to deal with elements so we were ready for the fog.”

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, or 419-724-6089.

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