July 2022 Monthly Bulletin

Canada Summer Games Team

The 2022 CSG Team has been selected.  The ARA wants to congratulate everyone who tried out.  The erg scores needed to simply attend the selection camp were aggressive implying that one had to be an extremely strong athlete just to garner an invitation to the camp. In the end we could only select a limited number of athletes to the 2022 Canada Summer Games Team.  They are in no particular order;

Men:    Sam Ree/ Bob Bryden / Henry King / Griffen Salmon / Ben Ravenscroft / Patrick Milner / Michael Claassen / Macdonagh Dressler / Axel Ewashko / Eric Pettapiece / Alexis Vela-Tafich / Andrew Hubbard

Women:  Kiara Brennan / Beth Miller / Ainsley Salmon / Gaby Yarema / Gaby Worobec / Kaliya Javra / Vivian Liu / Kiana Worobey / Paige Sze / Liz Ford / Meghan Rogers / Nicole Gammie / Meghan Elekes / Cecile Ferraro

Coaching Staff – Alex Marchuk / Jenny McGuinness

Support Staff – Michael Simonson / Tim Fleming

Congratulations to each of you and once again, and congratulations to those who did not make the team.  It is on account of your efforts that have bettered the team as a whole. 

June Recap

Some of the highlights from this past month are:

  1. Three Alberta athletes represented Canada at the 2022 World Cup in Poznan Poland.  Jessica Sevick and her crew finished in 6th place in the Women’s 4-.  Karissa Riley finished in sixth place in the Lightweight Women’s 1x.  Meanwhile Curtis Ames and Canada’s Men’s 8+ crew had a strong start to the regatta but w forced to withdraw from the final on account of a COIVD outbreak.
  2. Four Alberta athletes are competing at the World Cup III in Lucerne Switzerland from July 8-10, 2022.  Jessica Sevick is racing in the Women’s eight, Karissa Riley in the Lightweight Women’s Double, Curtis Ames in the Men’s 8+ and Karen Lefsrud is a team spare.
  3. Andrew Hubbard, Shaye dePaiva, and Eliza Dawson were nominated to Canada’s U23 National Team.  Andrew will be racing in the Men’s Double, while Shaye and Eliza will race in the Women’s 8+.  The U23 World Championships will be held from July 25-30 in Varese Italy.
  4. Axel Ewashko competed in the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley on Thames U.K.   
  5. A number of Calgary athletes were recognized at the 2022 Calgary Booster Club Sports Gala.  Kiara Brennan was the recipient of a Bob Freeze Sports Grant while Eliza Dawson, Emeleigh Grey, Kiana Worobey, Gaby Yarema and Andrew Hubbard were all recognized with an Art Smith Endowment Grant. 
  6. Congratulations to the Calgary Rowing Club for hosting a successful 2022 Alberta Open.  The 2022 event was the first time the Alberta Open had been held since 2019 on account of COVID measures in place.

ARA Funding

The ARA “Provincial Carding Program” was introduced in 2018 to provide direct funding assistance to support qualified Alberta athletes.  Of the athletes the ARA provided has provided funding assistance to, three have gone on to represent Canada at the Olympic/Paralympic games, while four additional athletes have represented Canada at a World Cup / World Championships.  Furthermore, the three Alberta athletes selected to represent Canada at the U23 World Championships this summer (Eliza Dawson, Shaye dePaiva and Andrew Hubbard) were all carding recipients this past year.   Needless to say, the ARA Funding program has been a success over the past five years providing Alberta athletes with the financial resources they require to year to reach their athletic goals.   

The ARA is currently revisiting some of details associated with the 2022 program.  Once the ARA works out the final details we will distribute the updated package to clubs across the province.  In the meantime, we encourage all ARA athletes to make sure they have an updated 2K erg in 2022 (one that they are pleased with) and if not representing Canada or Alberta this summer are representing an Alberta club at the 2022 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. 

Thank-You

The writer thanks all of those involved in the process of nominating him as an Honoured Athletic Leader with the Calgary Booster Club.  He is truly appreciative of receiving this award. 

Upcoming Events

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta August 1-8, 2022 – St. Catharines Ontario

Canada Summer Games – August 14-22 – Niagara Region, Ontario