Henley Funding:
The Royal Canadian Henley Regatta is Canada’s premier club regatta. Featuring over 2800 athletes across 150 clubs, the regatta offers athletes a competitive experience they cannot experience in Western Canada. Hoping to capitalize on the environment provided in St. Kitts, Ontario, the ARA highly encourages all aspiring provincial athletes (Canada Summer Games (CSG) and National Rowing Championships (NRC’s) to attend this event.
The ARA appreciates that the cost in attending this event can be cumbersome for some and for this reason the ARA has once again offered Henley funding to qualified athletes. For details on this exciting program please visit http://albertarowing.ca/category/teamalberta/. It is important to note that this program is in addition to the subsidy the ARA offers your club in transporting boats to Ontario.
CSG Camp #3
The third of several Canada Summer Games Camps has been scheduled for Saturday June 23 and Sunday June 24, 2012 in Calgary, Alberta. Athletes invited to the camp should now be informed via email from their club coach. Athletes have until June 10, 2012 to inform the ARA via email of their participation by emailing albertarowing@gmail.com.
An itinerary for the camp will be distributed prior to June 8, 2012.
NRC Document
Athletes interested in participating at the 2012 NRC event are encouraged to visit the ARA’s web page at http://albertarowing.ca/category/teamalberta/ and read the ARA’s 2012 Selection Document. The document outlines everything athletes need to know about entrance to this regatta.
With the understanding that the 2013 CSG is fast approaching, the ARA is highly encouraging all CSG Aged athletes to consider this event in the fall of 2012.
London Calling
Come July of 2012 the eyes of the world will be on London and our Olympic athletes. Get the inside scoop on how Canada’s Olympic rowers are preparing for the world’s largest sporting event. Some great places to gain inside information are:
http://lucerne2london2012.blogspot.ca/ – Rowing Canada’s own Peter Cookson – details the trial and tribulations of Canada’s Olympic Team
http://www.davidcalder.ca/ – David details his preparations for the Men’s 2-
www.willtowin.ca – Will Crothers details preparations for the Men’s 8+
Regatta Season
That was fast. Wasn’t it just yesterday when we got our boats out of the boathouse for the first time in 2012. It certainly feels that way. Regardless the Regatta Season is now in full swing.
First up was the Freeze or Fry Regatta in Edmonton which was held on May 26th in Edmonton amongst a beautiful blue sky. The ARA wishes to thank all of the officials and volunteers who put forth their time to ensure that the regatta went off in a safe and fair manor. Special acknowledgment goes out to Derek Liu as Regatta Chair and Sam Woodward as Chief Umpire. Thank-You Everyone.
The next event is the forthcoming Western Canada Sprints Regatta in Regina, Saskatchewan. Unlike past years the Junior Age Category at this event will incorporate U20 athletes; the purpose of which is to have CSG Aged athletes race off against one another.
After Regina, everyone heads West to Calgary for the Alberta Open on June 30th, 2012 and then two weeks later everyone will reconvene in Leduc, Alberta for the Prairie Championships.
University Standards
The ARA has been approached about setting standards for the 2012 CURC Regatta – the national championships for university rowing. While we at the ARA have expressed our reservation about imposing standards on a event whose entrance requirements should be at the discretion of the universities themselves, we would like to offer the following observations:
- The CURC Event has become a highly competitive affair. Some of the athletes who competed at the 2012 event included Kai Langerfeld – Silver medallist at the 2012 Pan-American Games, Ben DeWitt – Silver medallist at the 2012 Pan-American Games, Sarah Black – World Champion in the U23 Women’s 8+ and Carling Zeeman – Bronze Medallist in the Women’s Single at the 2012 NRC Event. The quality of rowing within the Canadian University System has never been stronger.
- Athletes who aspire to race in an “A” Final should at the very minimum have an erg score that betters the Bronze Erg Standard for their respective weight / age classification. Erg Standards are posted on the ARA’s Webpage.
- Athletes who wish to compete at the CURC Event should be rowing over the summer and training on the ergs over the winter months. Athletes who think they can walk into a university program in September and compete against the likes of a UBC / Western or UVIC rower after only 6 weeks of training are only kidding themselves. These programs train upwards of 8 times per week 8 months a year. To compete against these athletes you must train like they do.
- There is no reason why Alberta universities cannot compete against the likes of UBC / UVIC. However to do so will take a substantial commitment from the executives of the universities themselves. To have a strong program schools require at least 30+ athletes between the ages of 18-25 with no less than a Novice 8+, Junior Varsity Eight and a Senior Eight.
The ARA hopes we have not discouraged anyone from attending this event. It is our hope that in offering these recommendations we can motivate those within the university programs themselves to recruit and develop qualified athletes.
Good-Bye / Hello
Lastly, as mentioned last month the ARA was sorry to say good-bye to Sheila Lindsey. Sheila left the Edmonton Rowing Club and University of Alberta Rowing Team on May 31, 2012 to assume the duties as Head Coach with the South Niagara Rowing Club. However, with some bad news comes good news. The ARA in association with the ERC and UART are pleased to announce that Kris Davis and Ali Williams will fill the shoes vacated by Sheila.
Ali comes to Alberta having coxed crews with the Australian National Team. In addition to her athletic achievements, Ali has extensive coaching experience in both Australia and Canada where for the better part of the past year she has worked with many of Edmonton’s Junior Aged Rowers.
Kris Davis has been a fixture on the Alberta Rowing Circuit for the past 5 years as an accredited RCA Umpire and having worked with the Edmonton Rowing Club, the University of Alberta Rowing Team and ARA Provincial Teams.
We wish both Ali and Kris all the best in their new roles.
Upcoming Events
Regina Sprints – Regina Saskatchewan – June 9, 2012
CSG Camp #3 – Calgary, Alberta – June 23-24, 2012
Alberta Open – Calgary, Alberta – June 30, 2012