July 29 Overpeck Summer Sprints

Billed by organizers as a “fun race for young and old” the Overpeck Summer Sprints on Leonia, N.J.’s Overpeck Lake features events across all boat classes and races of varying lengths, from 2,000 meters for junior and open competitors to the traditional 1,000-meter distance for masters, who are racing for the first time ever at the venue.

www.bcrowingacademy.org/SummerSprints.html

July 29 Row for the Cure – Portland/Vancouver

In addition to the great cause, this year’s Row for the Cure, hosted by Station L Rowing Club and held on Vancouver Lake in Vancouver, Wash., offers additional incentive for the fundraising-inclined: the chance to win a pink erg. The event is open to junior, open, and masters athletes. www.stationlrowingclub.com

July 30 River City Rebellion

Open to competitors of all ages, River City Rebellion: A Small Boat Tournament features 1,000-meter sprint racing in singles, doubles, and pairs. All boats are entered into a single bracket, with a “grand champion” crowned at the end of the proceedings. www.rivercityrowing.org

July 31-Aug 1 Canada Summer Games

For aspiring university and national team rowers north of the 49^th, the multi-sport Canada Summer Games is a must: a nationwide showdown that pits lesser populated provinces like New Brunswick and Manitoba against the Goliaths of Canadian youth rowing, Ontario and British Columbia. www.canadagames.ca/2017

Aug 2-6 World Rowing Junior Championships

This year’s world juniors heads back to Trakai, Lithuania, where the top youth rowers in the world gathered back in 2013. Known for its picturesque Galve Lake setting, the annual FISA championship sees the best young talent across the globe racing in what, for some, could be the start of a long international career. www.worldrowing.com

Aug 5 Cow Island Classic

Little-known fact: This bucolic-sounding regatta does double duty as the Maine state championships. Open to all registered members of the Maine Rowing Association and held on Brunswick’s Androscoggin River, the annual 5,000-meter event offers competitors a respite from sprint season and a preview of the longer distances to come in a few weeks’ time. www.rowmaine.org

Aug 6-9 USRowing Senior and Para Trials

The road to the first world championships on U.S. soil in a generation passes through Princeton, N.J., where those looking to earn seats on the American senior and para-rowing teams will back into the gates with nothing less than an entire season on the line. According to new selection procedures for 2017, all trials boats, except the pairs, will be decided at this critical contest. www.usrowing.org/event/2017-world-championship-trials

Aug 6-13 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

North America’s—maybe even the world’s—premiere summer club event should be on every competitive rower’s to-do list. Just remember that nothing comes easy on St. Catharines’ Martindale Pond; with a brutal progression system and only one medal up for grabs (gold), it’s no wonder Canadian Henley can be launch pad to international careers. www.henleyregatta.ca

Aug 11-12 NWIRA Championships

Minnesota Boat Club hosts the annual Northwest International Rowing Association Championships, the marquee event for the regional association of Canadian and American rowing clubs in the Upper Midwest and Western Canada. Winnipeg Rowing Club took the points race and the prestigious Thomas Lipton Cup, named after the founder of the Lipton tea empire, at last year’s cross-border showdown. www.nwira.com

Aug 12-13 American Henley

Rowing traditionalists may cry foul over Sagamore Rowing Club’s appropriation of the Henley brand, but who cares? This invitational late-summer sprint is open to juniors and masters competitors only, who are only concerned with going fast. Pimm’s Cup, anyone?

Email: regatta@sagamorerowing.org

Aug 17-21 USRowing Masters Nationals

Hosted by Oak Ridge Rowing Association and Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau and held on Melton Hill Late in Oak Ridge, Tenn., this year’s Masters Nationals boasts a whopping 202 categories of races. Fortunately, there’s plenty of programming to help tired rowers unwind after the boats are racked, including regional culinary fare that will be served during the regatta. www.usrowing.org/event/2017-masters-national-championships/

Dame Katherine Grainger, Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympic rower, is this year’s recipient of FISA’s Thomas Keller Medal, which recognizes “an exceptional rowing career and exemplary sportsmanship.” Grainger was presented with the annual award during the Lucerne World Rowing Cup July 8. There was little doubt that Grainger would get the nod over a field that included fellow Britons Andrew Triggs-Hodge and para-rower Tom Aggar. The versatile veteran earned five medals in five consecutive Olympic Games—including gold on home waters in 2012—moving seemingly effortlessly between boat classes during her 20-year career.

The collegiate coaching carousel has spun at a dizzying pace since racing wrapped in June. Among those making moves is Boston University, which tapped Ohio State University associate head coach Madeline Davis for its new director of women’s rowing. The former Princeton University lightweight and U.S. under-23 team member will have her hands full in Boston, guiding both the Terriers’ open and lightweight women’s squads. “This is an exciting time for Madeline, and even more exciting for BU,” said Ohio State women’s coach Andy Teitelbaum. “To have one of the most talented young coaches in America leading your program is a rare moment.”