Mercer Lake Sprints/ ISA
Sculling Championships
April 17 & 18, 2009

Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA) and the ISA are proud to host the 2009 Mercer Lake Sprints. This event combines the highly successful Mercer Lake Sprints and the ISA Sculling Championships..   
 
This MLS/ ISA Regatta is open to all high schools and junior rowing clubs.  Depending on the amount of entries in each event, there will be heats and finals and medals will be awarded to event winners.  

This year we will be having a limited number of races, boys’ and girls’ varsity doubles and singles, on Friday evening starting at 6:00 pm. All other races will be held on Sat from 8:00AM-5:30 PM. Please email seanmccourt@rowpnra.org with any schedule questions
 
Please review the following information about the regatta and contact Regatta Director, Sean McCourt with any questions at seanmccourt@rowpnra.org.

Regatta Information

Event Discounted Hotels: Event Discounted Hotels: Princeton National Rowing Association will provide discounted rooms at a number of hotels in the Princeton area to provide competitors, family and friends with a variety of choices. Please consult our website http://www.rowpnra.org/hotel.htm after Feb 1 or contact Sean McCourt seanmccourt@rowpnra.org for more details. Ask for the “PNRA Rate” when booking.

Events List

Sweep Events
First Eight ( There will be a 1500m heat, followed by 2000m final)
Second Eight
Third Eight
First Frosh/Novice Eight
Second Frosh/Novice Eight (Only if there is a significant number of entries)
Lightweight Eight (Boys: 155lb. Max, Girls 130lb. Max)
First Four w/ cox
Second Four w/ cox
Third Four
Lightweight Four w/ (Boys: 155lb. Max, Girls 130 lb. Max)
 
ISA Sculling Events

-The Registration window will be Feb 15th to April 4th, 2009.
-The entry window will be open until April 4th OR when an event hits capacity.
-Entries are taken on a first come first serve basis.
-"C" entries are not permitted unless space permits.
-"C" entries will not be approved until after the close of registration.
-Late entries will be accepted as space allows and will be acessed a late fee of $20.00  per late entry, until April 11th.  
-Entries will NOT be recognized until full payment is made. 
-No Late Entries after April 11th.
-All Scratches after midnight Monday, April 14th will be assessed a $20.00 fee
 
Rules and Regulations
Event Rules: Please be sure to read the following event descriptions carefully. The goal of PNRA is to run a regatta that is highly competitive and fair. The hope is that no school will enter a “second eight” without entering a “first eight” and so on, but there will be some latitude given to schools who feel they cannot be competitive in an event and therefore must row in a lower category. Please use your best discretion.

• First Eight: The top event for eights. The “Varsity Eight.”
• Second Eight: No school can enter a second eight without entering a first eight
• Frosh/Novice Eight: Rowers in this event must have less than (1) year of rowing experience or be Freshman in high school.
• Lightweight: There will be no averaging for lightweight events. Boys must weigh no more than 155lbs. and girls must weight no more than 130lbs. There will be no weigh in. Athletes weights will be on the coach's honor.
• Coxswains: There will be no weight restrictions for coxswains and they need not weigh in

Entry Limits:

• The Schedule WILL NOT be changed to accomodate athletes who are doubling up or teams that are hot seating shells. Please plan accordingly.
• Each event will be subject to entry limits as the regatta has grown to maximum capacity for a one day event. Each event will close when all lanes are full. Lanes drawn on a first come, first serve basis. For questions on individual event entry limits please contact Regatta Director, Sean McCourt at seanmccourt@rowpnra.org.
• Each school can enter only one boat in each event, unless room allows for B boats in a particular race.
• Athletes can row in no more than two events
• Athletes may NOT row in events that are scheduled less than one hour from each other
• There must be at least (3) entries in an event or it will be scratched
• IF AN EVENT DOES NOT HAVE THREE ENTRIES OR MORE, the event WILL be dropped and you will be notified. Anyone who is part of an event that is dropped will be contacted before the event and you can choose to roll that entry into a higher category (ex= novice double dropped, then novice double rows in junior category)
• IF AN EVENT DOES NOT HAVE MORE THAN 7 entries, it will be rowed as a straight final
• "B" entries will be mixed with all of the "A" entries and will not be run in separate heats. "B" entries does NOT mean a separate event.

 
Venue Information
 
Please visit www.rowpnra.org for more information.
 
The Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center is an official USOC Olympic Training Site located on Mercer Lake. The site has a state-of-the-art, FISA Certified racecourse infrastructure,  and the boathouse houses the Mercer Junior Rowing Club, the Hun School, the Lawrenceville School, the Peddie School and the US National Team.  
 
The racecourse features:
* seven lane buoyed course
* three story finish line tower
* spacious finish line viewing area
* plenty of space for parking, trailer parking, vendors and team tents
 
It is very important that participating teams use the Mercer County Park entrance, off of Hughes Rd.  There will be no access granted to the North side of the lake.  All trailers will use the South side of the park.  For more information please see the “directions” portion of this site.
 
Directions
 
Directions to Mercer Lake Park (Marina area)
West Windsor, NJ
 
Directions can be found on our website at http://www.rowpnra.org/directions.htm.  

Volunteers
 
If you have volunteered for a regatta before or are interested in helping run the Mercer Lake Sprints please email seanmccourt@rowpnra.org right away.  There are several areas in which you can help:
 
Launch Drivers
Finish Line Coordinators  (transfer results from officials launch to Results board)
Finish Line Tower flag bearers
Dock Masters
Parking
T-Shirt Sales
Registration
 
Links
 
www.rowpnra.org
www.mjrc.org
www.row2k.com
www.njrowing.org
www.mapquest.com