May Information Bulletin #4

Water!
Lakes, rivers and ponds across the province have finally thawed bringing the start of another rowing season. With the start of the season, many new faces will hopefully be trying out sport for the first time. Please take the time to welcome these new faces. Over time they just might be in your crew. In addition, if you know of someone who may be interested in trying the sport please do not hesitate to invite them to a club near you.

London Calling!
Come July of 2012 – Alberta’s own Tracy Cameron will be competing for Canada in the LW2x. For those that don’t know much about what has transpired for the past 6 months Tracy was in a three way battle to even make the team.

Canada’s Lightweight Women’s Program you see is arguably the strongest in the world with three Canadian women capable of winning Olympic Gold in London. Unfortunately, Canada can send only two of the three women to the Games; the only Lightweight Women’s event in the Olympics being the Women’s 2x. In February of 2012, Lindsay Jennerich was told that her spot on the team was safe and that the second and final seat would be selected in a race off. Two athletes racing a single over 2,000m for the chance to race at the Olympic Games. Pressure! In the end Tracy won her seat beating Ms. Patricia Obee by a mere 3 seconds.

Congratulations Tracy!

Developement Regatta
A total of four Alberta athletes competed at the most recent 2012 RCA Development Regatta in Victoria, B.C. The regatta served as an opportunity for National Team hopefuls to showcase their talent. All four athletes should be commended on a job well done; this is especially so, when you factor that all four athletes hadn’t been in a boat for nearly 6 months.

A special word of acknowledgement is extended to Nicole Hare who finished in third place in the Junior Women’s Single. Congratulations Nicole.

CSG Camp Recap
The ARA held its second of many CSG Camps on April 14, 2012 in Edmonton, Alberta. While the weather certainly did not co-operate, athletes who attended got the opportunity to get to know one another both on and off the water (erg). Special thanks to Hillary Baker, Sheila Lindsey and Sarah Laing for their assistance and as well to everyone at the Edmonton Rowing Club for allowing the use of their facility.

CSG Camp #3
The third CSG Camp is currently scheduled for June 17, 2012 in Calgary, Alberta. However, with the understanding that the Alberta Open is now scheduled for June 30th and that the camp conflicts with High School Exams, the ARA is currently exploring the option of pushing the camp back one week to June 23-24, 2012. Further information about this camp will be distributed in the weeks to come, however if you are interested in participating you MUST submit a 2K Erg Score. Erg Scores are to be submitted to sarah@calgaryrowing.com. While erg scores were due on May 1, 2012 the ARA agrees to extend this deadline to May 15, 2012.

NRC Document
Athletes interested in participating at the 2012 NRC event are encouraged to visit the ARA’s web page at albertarowing.ca and read the ARA’s 2012 Selection Document. The document outlines everything athletes need to know about entrance to this regatta.

With the understanding that the 2013 CSG is fast approaching, the ARA is highly encouraging all CSG Aged athletes to consider this event in the fall of 2012.

University Standards
The ARA has been approached about setting standards for the 2012 CURC Regatta – the national championships for university rowing. While we at the ARA have expressed our reservation about imposing standards on a event whose entrance requirements should be at the discretion of the universities themselves, we would like to offer the following observations:

1) The CURC Event has become a highly competitive affair. Some of the athletes who competed at the 2012 event included Kai Langerfeld – Silver medallist at the 2012 Pan-American Games, Ben DeWitt – Silver medallist at the 2012 Pan-American Games and Carling Zeeman – Bronze Medallist in the Women’s Single at the 2012 NRC Event. The quality of rowing within the Canadian University System has never been stronger.

2) Athletes who aspire to race in an “A” Final should at the very minimum have an erg score that betters the Bronze Erg Standard for their respective weight / age classification. Erg Standards are posted on the ARA’s Webpage.

3) Athletes who wish to compete at the CURC Event should be rowing over the summer and training on the ergs over the winter months. Athletes who think they can walk into a university program in September and compete against the likes of a UBC / Western or UVIC rower after only 6 weeks of training are only kidding themselves. These programs train upwards of 8 times per week 8 months a year. To compete against these athletes you must train like they do.

4) There is no reason why Alberta universities cannot compete against the likes of UBC / UVIC. However to do so will take a substantial commitment from the executives of the universities themselves. To have a strong program schools require at least 30+ athletes between the ages of 18-25 with no less than a Novice 8+, Junior Varsity Eight and a Senior Eight.

The ARA hopes we have not discouraged anyone from attending this event. It is our hope that in offering these recommendations we can motivate those within the university programs themselves to recruit and develop qualified athletes.

Good-Bye
Lastly, it comes with the regret of the writer himself to announce the departure of Sheila Lindsey. Sheila came to the province of Alberta in June of 2011 to oversee the coaching duties at the Edmonton Rowing Club and the University of Alberta Rowing Team. In one short year Sheila has made a tremendous impact in the development of athletes across the province. While we hate to say good-bye we appreciate everything she has done and wish her best in her new role as Head Coach with the South Niagara Rowing Club.

Upcoming Events

ARA Erg Challenge 2,000m – Submissions Due May 15, 2012 (Deadline Extended)

  • Freeze or Fry Regatta – Leduc, Alberta – May 26, 2012
  • Regina Sprints – Regina Saskatchewan – June 9, 2012