Lenny Peters Cup Grows into International Rowing Event

High Point, NC, Oct. 27, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- The 2026 Lenny Peters Cup attracted nearly 1,000 rowers, hundreds of dragon boat paddlers, and more than 3,000 spectators to Oak Hollow Lake on Saturday, October 24. The Cup served as the main event of the High Point Autumn Rowing Festival, presented by Bethany Medical and the Lenny Peters Foundation. The event, which has grown from a regatta with two visiting teams to an international sporting event, has become a significant draw for local tourism in High Point, North Carolina.

Historically, about 70 percent of regatta attendees live outside North Carolina. They fill hotels, eat in local restaurants, and spend money across the Triad. Visit High Point measured the economic impact of this spring’s Lenny Peters Cup at $2.6 million. This growth resulted from a local partnership between High Point officials and the rowing community, who encouraged the event if it could attract visitors. The inaugural event brought two teams from Raleigh and Charlotte. Today, the regatta welcomes crews from Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Florida, and showcase teams from England, Scotland, and the Netherlands.

The Lenny Peters Foundation has supported the event’s growth since the sport’s recovery from the pandemic, when the host club lost nearly 90 percent of its members. Founder and race director Gene Kininmonth first contacted the Foundation for support, which included no red tape and no expectations beyond “keep doing what you're doing.” The Foundation’s investment established the Lenny Peters Cup, now in its fifth year, which has grown by about 40 percent since their involvement. Triad United now includes nearly 70 youth rowers aged 12 to 18 from diverse backgrounds across the Triad. Foundation support helps keep membership costs low, ensuring the club remains accessible to all.

This year, the Lenny Peters Cup introduced dragon boat racing to encourage local participation. Approximately 200 paddlers competed in the inaugural Lenny Peters Dragon Boat Races, with the Golden Koi team from Fort Bragg, N.C., taking first place. Saturday’s Lenny Peters Cup results included a headline match race where the reigning Olympic champion Dutch women’s four defeated two-time world champion Team USA. The race featured a sharp, nearly 180-degree turn around a large floating duck buoy, with the Dutch crew executing the turn effectively and finishing a length and a half ahead.

Races like these don’t happen at most rowing events anywhere in the country, said Kininmonth. They happen here because the Lenny Peters Foundation saw what we were building, believed in it, and kept investing. Thanks to that support, High Point has earned a place on the international rowing map.

The Lenny Peters Foundation is dedicated to giving back to the community, restoring dignity, creating opportunity, and bringing hope where it is needed most. Founded in 2006, the Foundation supports humanitarian, healthcare, educational, and community-based initiatives throughout the Piedmont Triad and internationally. Bethany Medical, a multi-specialty medical practice serving the Piedmont Triad since 1987, provides primary care, urgent care, and specialty services across 16 locations, committed to compassionate, respectful care that improves the health and well-being of the community.