Central Alberta Rowing Club
Congratulations to the Central Alberta Rowing Club who on Saturday August 18, 2018 officially christened their new boathouse on the northern shores of Lacombe Lake.
The boathouse has been built on the tireless efforts of one Andy Nokes who has been involved with every aspect of the project. For the past four years Andy has been meeting with civic and provincial officials to garner the necessary approvals for the project. He was involved with the design and construction work and played an integral role in securing the funds for the initiative through his extensive fundraising efforts.
On account of Andy’s efforts, rowing has a secure future in Central Alberta with a full suite of boats, and now a boathouse to which they can been stored in. Andy, thank-you for everything you have done to further the sport of rowing in Central Alberta and congratulations to the Central Alberta Rowing Club.
For those who were unable to attend the grand-opening, the Central Alberta Rowing Club invites you down to the club for a row at one of their evening sessions on Tuesday or Thursday nights from 5:00 to 6:30pm.
A Summer to Remember
If Labour Day long weekend represents the un-official end to summer, it really has been a summer for the ages in Alberta rowing.
- In July of 2018 six Alberta athletes participated in the FISU World Cup #3 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Nicole Hare and Karen Lefsrud competing in the women’s 8+ returned home to Canada with a silver medal. Kasia Gruchella Wesierski, Jessie Loutit and Colleen Nesbitt representing Canada in the women’s 4- won the B final to finish in 7th Helena Hlas representing her native Czechoslovakia in the women’s 1x finished 17th overall.
- Karl Hare represented Canada in the coxed four at the 2018 World Junior Rowing Championships in Racice Czech Republic. After narrowly missing out on the finals by 0.2 seconds, the Canadian 4+ won the B final to finish in 7th
- Courtney Kruschel representing Canada in the women’s 8+ won a silver medal at the 2018 World University Rowing Championships in Shanghai China.
- Five Alberta athletes have been named to represent their country at the upcoming 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plodiv, Bulgaria. Jessie Loutit and Karen Lefsrud will represent Canada in the women’s 4-, Jeremy Hall will represent Canada in the Men’s PR2 1x event, while Kasia Gruchella Wesierski has been named as an alternate. Helena Hlas will represent Czechoslovakia in the women’s 4x.
- The Calgary crew consisting of Olivia McMurray, Amelie Schumacher, Anna Currie and Kendra Hartley took home Henley gold in the women’s 4- event at the 2018 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. 2018 marked the fourth consecutive year that the CRC has won this event.
- The Calgary Rowing Club missed out on Henley gold with four second place finishes in the U17 M1x, U17 M2x, Women’s 2- and Women’s 8+ at the 2018 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.
- The Edmonton Rowing Club competing at the 2018 NWIRA regatta in Kenora Ontario finished in 7th place overall.
2019 WESTERN CANADA SUMMER GAMES
The Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG) is a multi-sport inter-provincial competition held every 4 years that provides development opportunities for amateur athletes. The 2019 Games are to be held in Swift Current, Saskatchewan and will represent the first opportunity our athletes have to showcase their talents in the lead-up to the 2021 Canada Summer Games. The ARA recognises the development opportunities that arise from the WCSG and with the opening ceremonies now only 16 months away we are beginning to take steps to prepare our U18 athletes (As at December 31, 2018).
With this in mind the ARA will visit the Edmonton Rowing Club from 5pm onwards on Thursday September 13, 2018. Should athletes have any questions or concerns the ARA will be happy to answer them at this time. In addition, the ARA is tentatively looking to host a 2 hour information/introductory meeting on Friday September 28, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta for all age eligible athletes interested in attending the games. Details will be forthcoming in the next week or so.
Provincial Carding Overview
As announced in April 2018 the ARA introduced a provincial carding initiative designed to provide financial assistance to qualified Alberta athletes. In June of 2018 provincial cards were awarded to the following athletes.
- Kasia Gruchella Wesierski
- Jessie Loutit
- Karl Hare
- Andrew Hubbard
- Ben Ravenscroft
- Curtis Ames
- Amelie Schumacher
To date the program has been a resounding success with three of the aforementioned athletes representing Canada in 2018. In addition, four of the aforementioned athletes have now qualified for Sport Canada AAP Carding, while another went on to win Henley gold.
In October of 2018 the ARA will extend junior provincial cards to a few additional athletes who have met the requisite standards as highlighted via the following link. http://albertarowing.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Provincial-Carding.pdf .
Senior & U23 athletes who wish to be considered for provincial carding consideration in 2019 must attend the 2018 National Rowing Championships.
2018 National Rowing Championships
The 2018 National Rowing Championships are scheduled from November 8th to 11th in Burnaby, British Columbia. At this time details surrounding this event have been relatively muted.
However, information received to date confirms that small boat racing will commence on the afternoon of Thursday November 8th and will continue through to the morning of November 11th. The Canada Cup portion of the regatta will take place the afternoon of Sunday November 11th with the banquet to follow on Sunday night.
At this time, it is undetermined if registration will be done through the provincial association or local clubs. There has been discussion that registration will move to the local clubs in 2018 and if this is the case your local club will determine the selection criteria. Regardless, of what RCA decides the ARA remains committed to supporting Alberta athletes in attending this event. Stay tuned.
University Rowing
The start of September signifies the start of the 2018-2019 season for our three university rowing programs, the University of Calgary Rowing Club, the University of Alberta Rowing Team and Lakeland College Rowing Team. In anticipation of the upcoming season each the programs have created professional looking video productions and would encourage everyone within the ARA to check them out via the following links.
https://www.facebook.com/UAlbertaRowing/videos/248276179159078/
https://www.gorustlers.ca/sports/rowing/index
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLAvDOAMpI
OFFICIALS
After a busy regatta season, it would only be appropriate to once again recognize all of Alberta’s officials who have made the 2018 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!
Rowing Tidbits
RCA is currently exploring venues to move its national training centre. Some of the rumoured sites are North Cowichan and Shawnigan Lake but nothing official has been announced. https://www.mycowichanvalleynow.com/36587/north-cowichan-vying-to-become-new-home-for-rowing-canada-aviron/
Upcoming Events
- ARA Board Mtg – September 15th, 2018 – Red Deer, AB
- Dino Sprints – September 29, 2018 – Calgary, Alberta
- Head of the North Saskatchewan – October 13, 2018
- ARA Casino – October 20-21, 2018 – Starlight Casino – WEM Edmonton
- ARA AGM – Novemer 17th, 2018 – Red Deer