Sarasota Invitational
- Hosted By: Sarasota County Rowing Club, Inc/dba Sarasota Masters
- USRowing Sanctioned Regatta
Welcome to the 13th annual Sarasota Invitational Regatta! Hosted by the Sarasota County Rowing Club with support from Benderson Development and Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy, Inc. (NBPC). It's hard to believe this regatta is in its thirteenth year. The changes from the first event are startling. In its inaugural year, the SIR had over 300 boat entries and over 600 competitors. Just eleven years later, in 2020, there were nearly 800 boat entries and 1,500 individual competitors! While we missed two years due to Covid and the circus, 2023 experienced a good rebound in attendance and we expect more competitors this year. We look forward to seeing you!
All eyes are on Nathan Benderson Park as it has become a world-class rowing venue. It is North America's premier 2,000 meter sprint course and regatta center, with a multi-function Finish-Line Tower and state-of-the-art wave attenuation system, now fully in place through the length of the course, making for calmer water in the event of easterly winds. All starts are from fixed platforms, 1500 meters for Saturday races, 1000 meters for Sunday races.
Sarasota County Rowing Club (SCRC) is a masters-only rowing club located at Blackburn Point in Osprey, Florida. The club has over 90 full-time members and a large complement of seasonal members. Members range in age from 23 to 84 and participate in both sculling and sweep rowing, competitively and recreationally. SCRC is also home to the Sarasota Adaptive Rowing program, a highly successful team of para-rowers.
The Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy, Inc. (NBPC) was created to manage Nathan Benderson Park, a community/public asset and world class, multi-use sports venue. NBPC’s primary purpose is to develop and promote Nathan Benderson Park as a world class event center, team training site and Sarasota County Park, while providing outreach programs through recreation, safety training, education and volunteering as a service to our community.
SCRC is proud to host the Sarasota Invitational Regatta and greatly appreciate the more than 200 volunteers who help make this event possible.