RegattaCentral

Desert Sprints Regatta 2019: Two-Day Format!

After introducing two days of racing last year, we're keeping the format for 2019, with a few minor tweaks:

• Saturday will be primarily 2000-meter races for Juniors, but we've also added some Open races at the end of the day for college and masters who want to race the full 2k course.
• Sunday will feature a Masters-only lineup of 1000-meter races.

In 2019, the Desert Sprints celebrates its 17th anniversary, maintaining its title as 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 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.

The lake's 2000m Albano buoyed race course is 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 2019 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.

In 2018, the area at the east end of the lake was extended, providing more warmup area before your event. Check out the new course map to see the changes.