Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Spring rowing races return to Kensington Metropark this weekend.

The Washtenaw Rowing Center is hosting its annual spring rowing races on Kent Lake at Maple Beach – bringing out dozens of regional high school crews and spectators.

The 2026 regatta season marks the fifth year of youth rowing competitions on the Kathryn Bennett Race Course.

The second of five races is set this Saturday and the public is encouraged to attend.

The season kicked off April 18th with Huron River Sprints, followed by Kensington Sprints this Saturday April 25th, and then the Martindale Sprints on May 2nd. The three sprint regattas are known as the Mitten Racing Series and serve as season openers to back-to-back crucial championship weekends.

On May 9th and 10th, the park will once again host the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championships. The regional championship regatta draws over 2,000 athletes from 50 teams from across the Midwest region as they aim to qualify for the Scholastic National Rowing Championships and USRowing Youth National Championships held later this spring in Tennessee and Florida.

The Michigan State Championships on May 16th will be the park’s last spring regatta this year. It serves as the statewide season finale for Michigan scholastic rowing teams.

Executive Director of the Ann Arbor-based Washtenaw Rowing Center and Skyline High School Crew Head Coach Kit Bennett said “We are delighted to enter what is already our fifth year of racing at Kensington. It is great to have our own race course so close to home, and it is an honor to cement Michigan as a rowing state, leading the way in athlete and racing experiences. The events have grown year over year and the competition has become faster. We look forward to welcoming everyone at the park this spring.”

The Kathryn Bennett Race Course is one of just a handful of fully-buoyed, eight-lane rowing race courses in the Midwest and across the United States. Benefiting from the beautiful scenery of the Kensington Metropark and historically favorable wind conditions, it has quickly become a destination site for high school regattas.

A recent economic impact study showed the race course brings over $5 (m) million dollars in additional annual revenue to the counties surrounding the Kensington Metropark through lodging, dining, and transportation needs.

Bennett told WHMI it’s a bit of a niche with about 30 high school teams in Michigan but the sport is slowly gaining in popularity and getting bigger each year. He said building the Kathryn Bennett Race Course at Kensington definitely helped a lot to have a hub for rowing in the state and the Midwest.

Bennett said the course was established in 2022 after COVID. He said when they started looking at sites to build a course, Kensington Metropark stood out and has been an “incredible partner”. He said they’re really proud of the positive impact the races and course have had on the region, welcoming visitors from both in and out of state.

Bennett said they’re excited for people to come out and check out a different kind of sport -noting it’s very kid-friendly and a great experience with food vendors, a jumbotron, and drone footage of the races.

Support from local sponsors is always welcome to help keep the program going with associated costs. Bennett said they’re not a big-time sports program and are just trying to keep things sustainable, affordable, and accessible for the public high school teams that participate and others – stressing they are “very passionate about the impact on kids”.

The Washtenaw Rowing Center (WRC) offers rowing opportunities for middle school, high school, collegiate and elite athletes. It is a partner of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. WRC coaches and staff also lead the seasonal crews of Skyline High School, Greenhills School, and out-of-district athletes looking to compete in high school rowing.

There is also a Kensington Community Rowing Center.

More information is available in the provided links.

Photos: Washtenaw Rowing Center