August Monthly Bulletin

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WESTERN CANADA SUMMER GAMES

The 2019 Western Canada Summer Games held in Swift Current Saskatchewan concluded on Sunday August 17, 2019 with Alberta rowers bringing home a record 6 gold medals including gold in both the men’s and women’s 8+’s.  The success of Team Alberta at this regatta was accentuated by the fact that all 17 athletes in attendance returned home with at least one gold medal. 

 “I’m very pleased with how everyone raced and the attitude and sportsmanship the athletes demonstrated throughout the event. As a team we did very well at this regatta and showed the quality of rowers we have in the province” said, Team Alberta Coach Alex Marchuk.

Andrew Hubbard who returned home to Alberta with three gold medals in the men’s single, quad and eight events was named a Team Alberta flag bearer at the closing ceremonies.  

Michael Claassen and Jarvis Chantler were also triple gold medalists at the 2019 Games winning the men’s double, quad and eight events.

Double gold medallists included Deanna Salmon and Gabrielle Yarema wining both the women’s pair and eight events and Ben Ravenscroft who won gold in both the men’s quad and eight events.  

A run-down of the results from the regatta are as follows.

Men’s Single Gold
Women’s Single Bronze
Men’s Double – Gold
Women’s Double – Silver
Men’s Quad – Gold
Women’s quad – Silver
Men’s Pair – Silver
Women’s Pair – Gold
Men’s Four – Silver
Women’s Four – Bronze
Men’s Eight – Gold
Women’s Eight – Gold 

The ARA wants to thank all the parents and supporters for coming out to support the team and as well our coaching staff of Alex Marchuk, Camil-Alexandru Teodorescu, Hillary Bakker and Aaron Harrower for their efforts throughout the event.  Congratulations to all!

THE SUCCESS CONTINUES!!!

The success of Alberta based athletes over the past two months have been nothing short of historic.  In addition to the success of Alberta athletes at the WCSG, consider the following.

  • Jessica Sevick representing Canada in the Women’s 1x event at the 2019 Pan-Am Games overcame flu like symptoms to win the gold medal in Lima, Peru.  To hear a first-hand account of the race please listen to her interview on the CBC.   https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1594033731989
  • Jeremy Hall won his second silver medal in as many years in the PR 2 Men’s single at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. 
  • Kasia Gruchella Wesierski and Nicole Hare narrowly missed out on the bronze medal finishing in fourth place in the Women’s 8+ at the 2019 World Rowing Championships.  While the boat did not medal, they did earn a qualifying spot at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. 
  • Five Alberta athletes represented Canada at World Cup II in Poznan Poland (Jeremy Hall, Karen Lefsrud, Nicole Hare, Kasia Gruchella Wesierski and Colleen Nesbitt) and all of them but for Jeremy went on to represent Canada at World Cup III in Rotterdam Ned).  Jeremy and Kasia both returned home to Canada with medals.  
  • Curtis Ames represented Canada in the men’s 8+ at the U23 World Championships in Sarasota, USA.  Curtis and his crew finished in 7th place overall
  • Andrew Hubbard and Michael Claassen of the Calgary Rowing Club finished first and second respectively in the Junior Men’s single at the 2019 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines Ontario.  Andrew and Michael would later team and win Henley gold in the Junior Men’s Double.
  • Karl Hare of the Calgary Rowing Club won the Open Men’s Dash at the 2019 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines. 
  • The Edmonton Rowing Club competing at the 2019 NWIRA regatta in Kenora Ontario finished in 6th place overall. 

Provincial Carding Overview

As announced in April 2019, the ARA agreed to extend its provincial carding initiative that it introduced in 2018; providing financial assistance to qualified Alberta athletes.  In July of 2019 provincial cards were awarded to the following athletes.

  • Karl Hare
  • Andrew Hubbard
  • Ben Ravenscroft
  • Jessica Sevick
  • Jarvis Chantler
  • Bob Bryden
  • Michael Claassen
  • Deanna Salmon
  • Max Garvey
  • Gabriella Worobec
  • Gabrielle Yarema
  • Beth Miller
  • Alex Ewashko

Since introducing the program in April 2018, the program has been a resounding success with five athletes going on to represent Canada; while three others have gone on to win Henley gold.  Following the 2019 NRC and CURC Regatta’s the ARA will review the list and look to extend carding opportunities to additional athletes not identified herein.  For details on the program please visit http://albertarowing.ca/funding/provincial-carding-initiative/

2019 National Rowing Championships

Reminder that the 2019 National Rowing Championships are being held from September 26th to September 29th in Burnaby, British Columbia.  Athletes representing the ARA at this event are asked to arrive in Burnaby the evening of Wednesday September 25th with small boat racing commencing the morning of Thursday September 26th.  The Canada Cup portion of the regatta will take place the morning of Sunday September 29th.   This year’s banquet will be held on Saturday evening.   

University Rowing

The start of September signifies the start of the 2019-2020 season for our three university rowing programs, the University of Calgary Rowing Club, the University of Alberta Rowing Team and Lakeland College Rowing Team.  Good luck to all three programs.  We look forward to watching you compete this fall. 

OFFICIALS

After a busy regatta season, we must take some time once again to recognize all of Alberta’s officials who have made the 2019 Summer Regatta Season a success here in the Prairies and across the country.  Athletes may not have noticed the hard work of these individuals, which is a testament to the quality of the officials we have in our province.  They work diligently behind the scenes to make sure that regattas are run in a safe and proper manner enabling our athletes to perform at their best. 

From all of us, thank-you!

Upcoming Events

  • Dino Sprints – September 21, 2019 – Calgary, Alberta
  • National Rowing Championships – September 26-29 – Burnaby, British-Columbia.
  • Western CURC’s – October 6, 2019 – Burnaby British-Columbia