THE Hamilton/Nestles Rowing Regatta is set for today with the initial two-day schedule reduced to see the lake full of boats from this morning through until late in the afternoon.

Numbers are strong with many local rowers from Hamilton Rowing Club and The Hamilton and Alexandra College set to be among the hundreds who take to Lake Hamilton today with more than 70 events scheduled across 750-metre and 1000-metre distances.

The races also range from Under-15 through to Masters.

Hamilton Rowing Club club captain, Ash Quinsey said the shift to one day was based on advice from Rowing Victoria.

“Reversing it back to one day, increased numbers by 90 entries,” she said.

“It is a common theme around rowing that entries are down 43 per cent compared to pre-covid numbers according to Rowing Victoria.”

Around 60 locals are expected to take to the lake, along with others from Shepparton, Horsham, Dimboola, Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong.

“It is a volunteer ran event outside of Rowing Victoria funding and we are thankful for support of Nestles/Dennington and THAC volunteers, without them, we couldn’t have hosted it,” Quinsey said.