Pan-American Games
Three Alberta based athletes made history at the at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, winning gold in the first-ever contested women’s coxed eight event at a Pan American Games. The gold medal won by the Canadian Women’s 8+marked the conclusion of a successful week for the Alberta trio of Olivia McMurray, Shaye de Paiva and Kendra Hartley. Olivia and her pair partner Abby Dent from Manitoba took home silver earlier in the week in the women’s pair while Shaye and Kendra were part of a women’s quad that won bronze.
Olivia, Kendra’s and Shaye’s success in Santiago, Chile is a milestone all Alberta athletes can take motivation in. Olivia who started rowing in 2011 had been knocking on Team Canada’s door for the better part of a decade first trying out for the U23 Team back in 2014. While she was not selected to the U23 squad, she did compete for Canada as part of their Commonwealth Team; but then spent the next 9 years looking to get back on the international stage. She has won Canadian Henley five times, won a bronze medal at the 2021 NRC Regatta and is proof positive that persistence and hard work pay dividends in our sport;
Kendra Hartley did not touch an oar until she discovered the sport with the University of Alberta Rowing Team at the age of 21; and would not represent Alberta for another five years. In 2021 she won silver in the pair at the National Rowing Championships and two years later represented Canada for the first time at the Pan-American Games; nearly ten years after first trying the sport.
Shaye was introduced to the sport of rowing in Calgary following the footsteps of her older brother in 2016. Graduating from High School here in Calgary, Shaye would go on to compete for Queen’s university but saw most of her collegiate career cut short on account of COVID. She first represented Alberta at the 2019 National Rowing Championships and two years later would go on to win a bronze medal in the U23 Women’s Single. In 2022 she represented Canada in the U23 Women’s 8+ and a year later won her first international medal at the Pan-American Games some 8 years after first trying our sport.
Canadian University Rowing Championships
The Canadian University Rowing Championships were held in Burnaby British Columbia from November 11-12th The regatta featured a number of Alberta athletes representing schools from on the west coast, the east coast and parts in-between. Alberta athletes taking home hardware from the event included the following:
Bob Bryden – Bronze for Queen’s in the Men’s 2-
Axen Ewashko – Gold for UBC in the Men’s 8+ and Men’s 2-
Kaliya Javra – Gold for UVIC in the Women’s 8+
Mikaela Holthius – Gold for UVIC in the Women’s 8+ and Silver in the Women’s 2-
Gaby Worobec – Silver for UBC in the Open Women’s 8+ / Gold in the Open Women’s 2-
Gaby Yarema – Bronze for Western in the Open Women’s 8+
Madison Laing and Megan Rogers – Silver for the U of C in the Open Women’s 2x
A special word of acknowledgment to the University of Calgary Dino’s Rowing Team for qualifying a record 7 boats in “A” finals at the Canadian University Rowing Championships. Great job to everyone involved with the U of C program.
Rowing Tidbits
- RADAR Reminder. A reminder to all ARA athletes that RADAR submissions are to be submitted by November 30, 2023. Completion of RADAR is a requirement of provincial carding and thus athletes who forgo the November RADAR submission will not be eligible for funding under the provincial carding program.
- The ARA AGM date is scheduled for Saturday November 18th. The event starts at 10am and will be held at the Red Deer Resort and Casino Anyone who is a member of an Alberta Rowing Club is welcome to attend and have their say on rowing in our province.
- Athletes should be notified of their status under the Provincial Carding Program by December 10, 2023.
- On November 11th we pay tribute to Canada’s soldiers who fought to defend the values that we hold dear. Here is a touching article of Geoffrey Taylor – an Olympic medalist in the sport of rowing – and soldier who fought at Passchendaele in WW I. https://www.tsn.ca/geoffrey-taylor-olympic-rower-fought-at-passchendaele-1.605621