The first Brockport to Spencerport 2012 Village-to-Village Rowing Challenge started at Brockport. Rowers lined up to launch their sculling boats near the Welcome Center along the Erie Canal where they could warm up before starting the race.More than a dozen sculling boats and more than two dozen rowers raced eastbound on the Erie Canal from Brockport to Spencerport in the 2012 Village to Village Rowing challenge held on a cold and wet November 3. All but one person competing in the challenge was a hard core experienced sculler who has participated in past challenges come rain, now, sleet or hail. The Challenge was organized by Deb Adams and her husband John Bernfield, and supported by the Rochester Community inclusive Rowing (RCiR).
The first Westside Challenge was dedicated to Mike Bannister, who organized past Village-to-Village Challenges on the east side of Rochester before relocating to Massachusetts.
The rowers came from all over the New York state region and from other states including Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. Pim Goodbody, age 75, from Williamstown, Massachusetts, was the oldest participant. He has been coming to the original Challenge on the east side of Rochester for many years and also competes in many of the major as well as minor regattas in the area as a sculler.
The Challenge started on the east side of the Park Avenue lift bridge in Brockport. Here, Mike Bannister, to whom the Challenge was dedicated and who organized past Village-to-Village Challenges on the east side of Rochester, is about to begin his race. The Challenge is a timed boat race for men’s and women’s singles and doubles racing for the fastest time. The race started east of the Park Avenue lift bridge in Brockport, with the doubles starting first, and ending in Spencerport just past the Martha Street bridge.
Rowers about to pass under the Gallup Road bridge.There were 36 volunteers, with the title “Safety Proactive Spectator,” from across Monroe County working behind the scenes and participating in the Challenge. Volunteer fire fighters from Brockport and Spencerport were also on hand during the entire event watching out for the competitors who could have been in harms way had a boat flipped or collided unexpectedly and the sculler was tossed into the cold waters of the Erie Canal.
The following are the first through third place winners of the first Brockport to Spencerport Village-to-Village Rowing Challenge:
•Doubles: First Place Joseph Prosack, Rochester, and Ross Pedersen, Rochester; Second Place Vince Reynolds, East Syracuse, and Lisa Gesinger, Webster; Third Place Tyler Gomez, Lexington, Kentucky, and Will Green, Rochester.
•Men’s Singles: First Place John Bowen, Rochester; Second Place Marty VanDerHeide, Trumansburg; Third Place Mike Bannister, Lowell, Massachusetts.
•Women’s Singles: First Place Laura Civiletti, Rochester; Second Place Teresa Sukiennicki, Rochester, Third Place Alison Reidy, Honeoye Falls.
