RegattaCentral

After our 2016 hiatus for dam repairs, the Desert Sprints Regatta is back for 2017! 2000-meter races for Juniors and Open categories, and 1000-meter races for Masters events.

The 2017 Desert Sprints will celebrate its 15th anniversary, making it the oldest boating event on Tempe Town Lake, as well as the oldest and largest rowing event in the state of Arizona. The Desert Sprints has grown from a local, mom-and-pop event in the early days to a regular stop on the regatta calendar of many of the top Junior and Masters programs in the country.

This year's event will be the fourth to feature the lake's 2000m Albano buoyed race course—one of only six such courses in the western U.S. It's a point of pride for the Arizona rowing community and a great way for competitors to kick off the 2017 racing season.

Tempe Town Lake is a man-made body of water located on the northern edge of downtown Tempe. The lake is two miles long and between 200 and 240 meters wide, with a new dam located at the west end of the lake.