Those who think the city’s greatest treasure has been hiding in plain sight will get two chances to celebrate this weekend, when the 30th Frogtown Regatta and the fourth Maumee Bay River Festival join forces on the banks of a waterway that has literally defined Toledo since its founding.
On Saturday, more than 1,000 high school students and adults will compete in a day of sanctioned races in a sport — crewing — that predates America by hundreds of years.
These aren’t dragon boats, mind you, but sleek, bullet-shaped shells that can accommodate anywhere from one to nine athletes trying to best one another over a course of 5,000 meters.
There will be more than 50 individual races between 8:15 a.m. and 3 p.m., said Kristina Latta-Landefeld, executive director of the Toledo Rowing Club, which has sponsored the regatta for three decades.
“It’s a timed event over [3.1 miles] with multiple boat classes in terms of size, gender, experience level and age,” she said. “It’s long, skinny boats called shells. There is sweep rowing (where you have one oar per person) and skulling (two oars per rower). In [a regatta], you’re really racing against the clock, although if you pass someone [on the river], you’re clearly going faster than them.
“We’ve had about 1,000 rowers in past years, but I’m hoping we’re going to have closer to 1,200 this year,” Latta-Landefeld said.
In a region that routinely celebrates football, baseball, and basketball, rowing may be the largest sport many people have never heard of.
The pinnacle of rowing is the Olympics, not the professional leagues. The Toledo Rowing Club sponsors nine area teams, most of which are expected to participate this weekend, including the University of Toledo, Notre Dame Academy, St. John’s Jesuit, St. Ursula Academy, Anthony Wayne High School, Central Catholic-St. Francis [a composite team], and Perrysburg Rowing Club with students from Perrysburg High School as well as Toledo School for the Arts and Northview High School.
Not competing, but likely to be rooting others on, are 25 middle school students taking part in a newer Toledo Rowing Club initiative.
“We do have some mixed-gender boats [with four or eight rowers], but most of the time you’re rowing boys against boys and girls against girls,” the administrator said.
While rowing traces its roots to European fishermen competing against each other, by the 1860s it was the most popular sport in the United States. Latta-Landefeld wouldn’t mind seeing a return to such popularity, even given that rowing is an amateur sport without big budget sponsorships.
In recent years the Frogtown Regatta has joined forces with the Maumee Bay River Festival because both have a shared commitment to protecting and preserving the Maumee River.
“A goal of mine in this [executive director] position is to get more Toledoans engaged in the river,” Latta-Landefeld said. “We’re bringing in athletes and their parents from all over the Midwest. We’ve got people from Louisville, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and all over Ohio coming to the race. Part of the reason they like being here is because it’s downtown Toledo.
“With the Maumee Bay River Festival the next day, it’s just a cool way to celebrate Toledo.”
Both events will take place at International Park, and both will feature food vendors, merchandise, and some music. Both are free, although the river festival would like a $5 donation.
Where the regatta is an athletic endeavor, the river festival has more of a political bent.
“We need to celebrate this great resource, which is why we’re trying to make it a focal point,” said Sandy Bihn, executive director of Lake Erie Water Keeper, a non-profit that works on the Lake Erie watershed, and organizes the annual festival. “When people [are asked] what do you like about Toledo, they always say the Metroparks, the zoo, the library. Rarely do people mention the river, and that's really sad.
“This is our fourth year, and [like last year] the Metroparks will bring in kayaks for people to use, we'll do eco tours on the Sandpiper, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is doing Fish Identification. There may be as many as 100 species in the river.”
In addition to food vendors, musical acts, a fishing derby, and a small number of arts booths, Sunday will include a 5K run and a bicycle ride with a narrator pointing out significant facts about the river.
The Maumee River meanders 136 miles from Fort Wayne to Maumee Bay, passing dozens of cities and towns en route, and providing numerous recreational and economic opportunities. Because of this, “We need to have a serious celebration that recognizes what a great resource the Maumee River is,” Bihn said.
Contact Mike Pearson atmpearson@theblade.com or 419-724-6159.
First Published September 24, 2015, 4:00 a.m.