First ever Sask. multi discipline boat races held at Pike Lake

(Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

The Saskatoon Rowing Club hosted a first of it’s kind event on Saturday.

The Paddle Party Pike brought together rowers, canoeists, and kayakers to Pike Lake to show off their skills.

“It’s really huge. We’re co-located in Riversdale at the Victoria Park Boathouse. So we interact all the time, but we’ve never had the opportunity to actually put on an event like this, so it’s awesome,” Matt Bradshaw, president of the Saskatoon Rowing Club said.

This new event has replaced the long-running Head of the Sask. race due to low water levels.

Organizers say bringing together a variety of athletes to compete in two different race styles was a unique opportunity that hadn’t been done yet in Saskatchewan.

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“It’s the first time I’ve raced kayakers, which is kind of interesting. So it’s hard to gauge what the speed there’s going to be and, how to compete...we know that a lot of the kayakers competed so it was good company and it was fun racing them,” Calvin Pally, a rower in the competition said.

Athletes could compete in a five-kilometre head race and a 300 metre sprint during the full day of racing. The event wrapped up with the eights (eight person row boats) going head to head, which was a personal favourite for Pally.

“Big boats are always more fun and more community within the boat, more people to talk to,” Pally said.

According to Bradshaw, the success of the event has been encouraging, and he hopes to make the Paddle Party Pike an annual tradition.

“It’s special. We’re innovating. We want to have a good time and create a bit of a legacy for all three sports, and it was just awesome,” Bradshaw said.