As Catawba reached the starting line for the first event of the day Sunday morning, the crew developed a goal that they reached with relative ease.

Catawba’s quad sculling team won the Men’s Masters 4x to open Augusta’s first USRowing championship in more than 20 years. Their time proved to be the fastest of the day among 23 events and 59 boats. The crew, Byron Walthall, Carl Parziale, Phil Gilmore and Tom Phillips, finished at 17:57 on the 5,000-meter downstream course on the Savannah River. As the first boat to hit the water for the USRowing Masters National Head Race Championship, the result was fitting. “We said, ‘Why don’t we try to be the fastest boat on the day?’ So that was our goal,” Walthall said. “The water was great. The conditions were really great.”

Catawba is a familiar crew for the Head of the South Regatta, which was held Saturday. They won the Men’s Masters 4+ at 17:43.9, and Men’s Club 4x at 18:14.5 during that regatta, as well as the Mixed Masters 8+ on Sunday, capping a strong weekend for the team. “The Head of the South is one of our favorite races,” Walthall said. “It’s sort of a season-ender for us in the fall, and we usually have lots of participation from our crowd, and for years. The addition of the USRowing masters event was a pleasant surprise this year.”

In its third year, and first in Augusta, the USRowing masters event is the second part of a full rowing weekend on the river. USRowing’s interest in Augusta was due in large part to how the Augusta Rowing Club and Augusta Sports Council organize the Head of the South Regatta each year, USRowing events manager A.J. Dominique said. “The way they’re able to put things together and run that event, it’s just so seamless and smooth,” Dominique said. “It’s a great venue, but it’s also a real testament to how Head of the South is run.” Dominique said USRowing could look to expand opportunities for rowers in the event by including junior and college teams in the future. Catawba’s crew agreed the venue is ideal. “The local committee has done a great job putting it on,” Phillips said. “The venue is perfect. They’ve made it very pleasant and nice to come here.”