CSG TEAM
The 2017 CSG Team has been selected. The ARA wants to congratulate everyone who tried out for the team. Regardless of whether you are or not one of the athletes selected to the team, you should be extremely pleased with yourself. The erg scores needed to simply attend the selection camp were nearly 10 seconds faster than they were in 2013; implying that one had to be an extremely strong athlete just to garner an invitation to the camp.
In the end we could only select a limited number of athletes to the 2017 Canada Summer Games Team. They are in no particular order;
Men: Curtis Ames / Alex Sawers / Phil Kirker / Karl Hare / Aaron Harrower/ Sam Pohl / Connor McKenzie / Adam Miller / Daniel Molyneaux / Kyle Pollock/ Erik Hohnstein / Tavis Enno
Women: Veronique Ulrich / Aline Belzil / Sofia McGurk / Justine Foster / Jiaxi (Lucy) Lu/ Emily Arich/ Claudia Reisinger / Nicole Foster / Brielle Thorsen / Claire Hinse / Sarah Power / Hannah Kennedy / Miki Chantler /
Coaching Staff – Mark Laidlaw and Lisa Kates
Support Staff – Hillary Bakker, Emily Stapley, Camil Alexandru Teodorescu
Congratulations to each of you and once again congratulations to those who did not make the team. It is on account of your efforts that have bettered the team as a whole.
Now the hard part. We have to get everyone together as a team. The coaches will do their part. As for the athletes, the ARA asks is that you come to practice on time, focused and willing to commit 7-8 times per week. If all athletes can put forth this kind of an effort over the next three weeks it is our opinion that we will achieve the successes we all want. If not, we will have our challenges.
Alberta and the National Team
Congratulations to Calgary’s Nicole Hare for winning a bronze medal in the Women’s Four at the 2017 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland this past weekend; her first of what we here in Alberta hope will be many more medals on the Senior World Cup Rowing Circuit. The Women’s Four event will be contested at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan for the first time in the history of the Olympics and this medal serves notice that Canada will be a contender in this event in the upcoming quadrennial.
The ARA also congratulates Karen Lefsrud, on being nominated to the U23 National Team. Karen will be racing in the Women’s 8+, at the U23 World Championships in Plodiv Bulgaria from July 19-23, 2017. Miranda Kirker, also of the Calgary Rowing Club has been nominated as a spare to Canada’s U23 National Team.
Henley Royal
Henley Royal Regatta is undoubtedly the best-known regatta in the world. It is a highlight of both the summer sporting calendar and the social season in England, attracting tens of thousands of visitors over a 5 day period to watch a regatta that features knock out style head to head racing where the winner of each race advances to the next round until there is only one crew remaining.
For the first time in the regatta’s near 200 year historym female crews from Alberta attended the 2017 version of Henley Royal Regatta to compete in the Remenham Challenge Cup for women’s 8+’s and the Princess Grace Challenge Cup for the women’s 4x’s. The Remenham and Princess Grace Challenge Cups are open events and often attract some of the fastest female rowers in the world. However, despite the challenges both crews faced, each were given the opportunity to compete in the quarter finals before bowing out. Both races can be found on You tube by following the attached links https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IPN33AjRUI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlePDQEhEiQ
Henley Funding
Despite a lack of communication surrounding this matter the ARA will once again be providing Henley funding to qualified athletes who compete at the 2017 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Athletes who wish to obtain funding are at minimum required to pull the Bronze 2K Erg Standard for one’s weight/sex to be deemed eligible. Stay tuned for additional details in the coming week.
NRC Selection Document
It is hard to believe that the National Rowing Championships is now only four months away. The selection document that details how athletes can represent the Province of Alberta at this event will be distributed shortly.
Upcoming Events
- Alberta Open – Calgary, Alberta – July 15, 2017
- Canadian Henley – St. Catharines, Ontario August 6-13, 2017