Fairport Crew Club to host first annual Lift Bridge Regatta on Sept. 17

Local and out-of-town college, high school and masters crews will compete

(FAIRPORT, N.Y., Sept. 11, 2005) - Some 300 competitive rowers will descend on Fairport on Saturday, Sept. 17, for the first annual Lift Bridge Regatta.

Hosted by the Fairport Crew Club, the Lift Bridge Regatta will feature local and out-of-town high school, college and masters-level competitors. Crew clubs from Brighton, Pittsford, McQuaid Jesuit, Cazenovia and Fayetteville-Manlius are expected to send competitors for the high school events. Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester and Nazareth College of Rochester have agreed to field crews in the collegiate events.

The regatta represents the first time Fairport Crew has hosted an invitational on this scale, and club organizers hope to lay the groundwork for an increasingly successful annual event.

The regatta will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 5,200-meter Erie Canal course will begin under the Lyndon Road Bridge, loop through the village of Fairport, and finish near the Fairport Crew boathouse in Perinton Park. Rowers with Fairport Crew will compete in the afternoon. Awards will be presented.

Crew competition is fairly new to the residents and merchants of Fairport and Perinton.

"By running events through the heart of the village, we hope to generate plenty of interest among spectators and merchants, enhance the quality of life in Fairport, showcase yet another recreational aspect of the Erie Canal, and cultivate support for the Fairport Crew Club," said Mike Bannister, race organizer and a board member of the not-for-profit club.

The event also will offer high school rowers an opportunity to mingle with collegiate and masters rowers, and to approach college coaches to learn more about rowing opportunities beyond high school.

To ensure safety during the regatta, provisions have been made for a no-passing zone in the heart of the village, the busiest portion of the race course. The club also is instituting procedures to accommodate runners and walkers in the Preferred Care/Arthritis Foundation Rochester Marathon that's scheduled to pass through Perinton Park the morning of Sept. 17.

Members of the community are invited to attend the Lift Bridge Regatta, and volunteers are needed to help with a variety of tasks. For more information or to volunteer for the regatta, please contact Mike Bannister at (585) 425-9948 or mike.bannister@symbol.com.

Fairport Crew Club, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, provides Rochester-area high school students an opportunity to row and encourages lifelong rowing. Fairport Crew Club promotes community development along the Erie Canal and helps neighboring, non-canal towns establish rowing clubs. Founded in 2000, Fairport Crew Club now includes about 80 members. It relies on tuition, fund-raising events, donations and grants, and is not affiliated with any high school program. FCC's community-supported boathouse is located at 1399 Fairport Road at the south end of Perinton Park. For more information on Fairport Crew Club, or to make a donation, call 585-377-2458, visit fairportcrew.org or email fairportrowing@hotmail.com.