Young paddlers braved the elements last Saturday to compete in the 2010 Yorkton Development Regatta at the Yorkton Canoe and Kayak Club.
Despite some mild whitecaps on York Lake, the mood was generally upbeat as the competitors got to show their stuff in a encouraging environment.
As Ashley Goertze, coach of the Wascana Racing club (out of Regina), indicates, everyone was making the best of it.
"The weather is crap but we're making the best of it, we're still going to have a lot of fun," she says.
Although the conditions were not ideal, the racers still managed to get their races in - albeit with altered distances.
"We had to alter the races a bit. We're only going to do really short ones," Goertze mentions.
The annual Yorkton regatta has become a staple on the paddling racing circuit for club's throughout the surrounding.
Goertze says that the Wascana team always looks forward to coming to York Lake. "We came to this regatta last year and it was really awesome."
With the season wrapping up soon, the Developmental Regatta is designed as a chance for the less experienced racers to show their skills.
Goertze says that it's an opportunity that the majority of the racers eagerly anticipate.
"That's what's great about Yorkton is that it's just first year paddlers, (they) are the only one's allowed to come. So it's kids who maybe don't do so well in the more competitive regatta so they can come here and win lots of medals and they have a good time," she details.
The higher-level paddlers will also get their chance to race coming up in a couple of weeks.
Goertze's Wascana Racing Club will play host to the Canadian Nationals running from August 25 to 28.
