June Recap:
Take a look at some the achievements from our athletes that you may have missed over the past month
- Axel Ewashko and his crew of Steve Rosts, Joel Cullen and Ryan Clegg took home gold in the Men’s 4- at the 2025 Holland Beker Regatta. A few days later, Ewashko and the Canadian Men’s 4- finished second to Croatia in the Stewards Challenge Cup at English Henley.
- Shae de Paiva and her crew of Alexis Cronk, Cassidy Deane and Brenna Randal finished a respectable 8th in the Women’s 4- at World Cup II in Lucerne Switzerland.
- Bob Bryden was selected to represent Canada in the Men’s 2- at the 2025 World University Games in the Rhine Rur region of Germany at the end of July.
- Former ARA Athletes Sam Garber and Clare Botterill competed in the 2025 Western Canada Beach Sprints Championships finishing in first and second respectively in the mixed 2x. Clare also finished third in the W1x event.
- For a feature article on the 23 – Calgary athletes who attended English Henley this year please go here.
- Congratulations to the Calgary Rowing Club for hosting a successful Alberta Open Regatta on Canada Day long weekend.
Marketing Initiative
It has been over a year now since the ARA developed a series of videos to help promote the sport of rowing across Alberta. Take the time to share the videos with your friends and families with the intent of encouraging others to try our great sport. The writer just reposted one of those videos on his Instagram profile. You are encouraged to do the same.
Last Call to Register
Registration for the 2025 Lakeland Rowing Camp is open. The camp is open to athletes of all ages and skill levels. We hope that everyone will mark the dates of July 18- 20, 2025 in their calendars and come out to Vermilion to participate in this year’s event. To register simply follow this link.
Rowing Stories
As we approach the anniversary of the Paris Olympics and the successes of Jessica Sevick and Kasia Gruchella Wesierski one is left to reflect on past successes of Alberta athletes at the games. This month we feature a true pioneer in our sport Megan Delehanty who rowed as part of the ERC in the late 80’s. Story courtesy of the University of Alberta athletics department.
Megan Delehanty
Outstanding athletes emerge on the world stage of sport from differing backgrounds. This was certainly the case for Megan Delehanty. A graduate of Old Scona High School, Megan entered the world of sport as a member of the Edmonton Columbians Track and Field Club (1979-1985) and went on to compete for Old Scona at the Edmonton High School Championships in the 200m, 100m, hurdles and the long jump events. When she arrived on the campus of the University of Alberta, however, the coach of the Pandas and Bears Track and Field Teams, Gabor Simonyi, persuaded her to devote her training to throwing events. To strengthen her legs for these events, Megan began to spend more time in the weight training room where she met athletes who were in training for rowing. Impressed with her training regimen, they suggested that she tryout for the rowing team. And the rest is history.
Megan came to love this new sport and when she completed her baccalaureate degree she looked for a graduate program in her academic field that also offered a rowing program. University of British Columbia provided an excellent fit. She competed for the UBC Thunderbirds Rowing 8+ (8 rowers plus coxswain) in 1990-1991 and also won a seat on the Canadian National [B] rowing team in 1990. Megan’s Women’s Elite 8+ swept to the gold medal in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Megan was switched to the 4+ team for the Women’s Charles Elite Regatta in Boston and they won gold again.
Her performances resulted in her placement on the Canadian National Rowing team in 1991. Megan won a seat in the 8+ and her boat went on to capture gold medals at the Lucerne Rotsee Regatta in Switzerland and the women’s 8+ World Championship gold medal in Vienna, Austria. These remarkable performances led to Canada’s outstanding world rankings and marked them as the team to beat in the Barcelona Olympics.
Megan’s team was not to be denied their world number one ranking in 1992. They again won the gold medal for 8+ events in the Lucerne Rotsee Regatta and swept the field for the Women’s 8+ gold medal in the Amsterdam Regatta. The pinnacle of performance for Megan Delehanty occurred at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Her 8+ boat defeated the best women’s rowing teams in the world and brought Olympic Gold Medals home to Canada.
In the autumn of 1992 Megan returned to her academic program at UBC. She rowed again for the UBC team in 1993 and then set aside her competitive carer to focus on her research. Her outstanding leadership and athleticism was recognized by Alberta when she was appointed the Honorary Team Captain of Alberta’s 1993 Canada Summer Games team.
Megan Delehanty served as a member of Edmonton’s 1999 Pan Am Games Bid Committee and she continued to participate in a wide range of sport-related events including the Alberta Youth Olympic Symposium (2000). She captained the University of Alberta Burn Unit Relay team (1999) and the Burn Unit Dragon Boat Festival team (2000).
Although her career as a world-class rower was short, it was a brilliant one. She was a member of the finest women’s rowing 8+ team in the world, a team that won gold medals in the world’s most prestigious regattas including the Olympic Games. The University of Alberta is proud to add her name to the Sports Wall of Fame.
Upcoming Events
Lakeland Camp July 18-20, 2025
Royal Canadian Henley Regatta August 3-10, 2025