May Recap
In case you missed it, the first 30 days of the on-water season has produced some remarkable achievements for Alberta athletes, coaches and officials alike.
1) Kasis Gruchella Wesierski and Jessica Sevick of Alberta took home gold in the Women’s 8+ at the Lucerne World Cup regatta. The regatta is the final event before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The race can be seen here via the link
2) Pamela Young – Past President of the CRC was recognized at the Calgary Booster Club’s award banquet as an Honoured Athletic Leader for her 15+ years of service to our sport here in Calgary.
3) Congratulations to Andrew Hubbard, Gabby Yarema and Karissa Riley in being awarded the Art Smith Endowment Grant with the Calgary Booster Club. Orla Bailey was also recognized as a recipient of a Bob Freeze Sports Grant.
4) The ERC took home victories in all three races at the 2024 Alberta Boat Race, winning the Novice Men’s quad, Men’s 8+ and Women’s 8+.
5) The ERC celebrated its 50th Anniversary in May 2024. Congratulations to everyone within the ERC for a remarkable 50+ years.
Marketing Initiative
Last month the writer sent out a call for Alberta athletes, coaches and officials to share a series of videos. With the upcoming Olympic Games, we believe now is the time is now to build interest in our sport. We ask that everyone take the time to share the videos found in the following link on social media.
Save the Date
Registration for the 2024 Lakeland Rowing Camp is now open. The camp is open to athletes of all ages and skill levels. We hope that everyone will mark the dates of July 19 through to 21, 2024 in their calendars and come out to Vermilion to participate in this year’s event. To register simply follow the link
Rowing Stories
At the Olympic qualifying regatta in Lucerne Switzerland, Canada’s Men’s 8+ was looking for a top two finish to secure a ticket to the Paris 2024 Games. With 500m remaining in the race, the outlook looked bright with Team Canada sitting solidly in second place holding a two and a half second lead over the third place Italian crew. With 50m remaining, the Italians had closed the gap and the two countries made their final push to the line. The finish was agonizingly close but in the end Canada placed third losing out on the Olympic birth by 1-100th of a second. The result marked a disappointing end to a remarkable 10 year run for Alberta’s Curtis Ames.
Curtis started in the sport of rowing in 2014, registering with the Junior program at the Calgary Rowing Club. In 2015, Curtis tried out for the Western Canada Summer Games, but the writer felt that he wasn’t ready for a Provincial Team. Undeterred Curtis, represented Calgary at the 2015 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta finishing in 5th place in the U19 Men’s 8+. The following year Curtis raced in the U19 Men’s pair missing out on Henley gold by 44 one-hundreds of a second, before enrolling at the University of Western Ontario in the faculty of Engineering. In 2017, Curtis represented Team Alberta at the Canada Summer Games winning medals in the Men’s 2-, 4- and 8+, and a short two years later he was selected to represent Canada in the men’s 8+ at the 2019 U23 World Championships finishing in 7th place overall
Team Captain for the Mustangs Rowing Team, a three time OUA All star, Mustang record holder in the 6k, OUA MVP and graduate from the faculty of engineering, Curtis was awarded the prestigious Purple Blanket award from the University of Western Ontario in 2021. In 2022 Curtis moved to Duncan B.C to train with Canada’s national team competing in the Men’s 8+ at the 2022 and 2023 World Rowing Championships. While Curtis achievements in the sport of rowing are undoubted, it is humility that makes him a truly exceptional individual. Throughout his remarkable rise in our sport Curtis has never forgotten his roots. Curtis is proudly Albertan and one of the first to raise his hand to represent his home province at the National Rowing Championships. He has never passed on an opportunity to assist in the development of our sport here at home (as evidenced by one of our videos the ARA recently created). In short Curtis is an ambassador for the sport of rowing across this country. Curtis, congratulations on a remarkable ten year run. We here at the ARA look forward to the next 10 years to see what you can accomplish both within and outside of the sport of rowing.
Upcoming Events
Alberta Open – June 29 and 30th – Calgary, Alberta