2021 National Rowing Championships
The 2021 National Rowing Championships (NRC) held between November 10-12 in Victoria, British-Columbia was in many ways an historic event for Alberta rowing. To start, 37 athletes represented Alberta – its largest team in the history of the regatta. Alberta was one of only two provinces to have representation across every contested discipline at the regatta (Lightweight sculling M/W, Heavy M/W sculling and sweep, and Para M/W). Most notably, however was the success Alberta athletes achieved, which truly made this year’s event memorable.
In the past, Alberta athletes had always achieved some success at the NRC event but to this writer’s memory, Alberta had never taken the title of National Champion in an “Open” able body event. No longer. Curtis Ames took home the title of National Champion in the Men’s Open single event. Karissa Riley was crowned National Champion in the Open Women Lightweight Single Event, while Olivia McMurray and Kendra Hartley narrowly missed out on gold in the Open Women’s pair finishing second in what was likely the most exciting race of the day. The success achieved by our senior athletes was then passed onto the rest of the team, with Alberta winning a total of 9 medals (in contrast Alberta won 5 medals at the 2019 NRC Event). Medal winners were as follows:
Gold:
Curtis Ames – Open Men’s Single
Karissa Riley – Open Women’s Light Single
Gold cont……
Karissa Riley – U23 Women’s Light Single
Gaby Worobec / UBC Composite – Junior Women’s Pair
Silver:
Olivia McMurray / Kendra Hartley – Open Women’s Pair
Gaby Yarema / Shaye de Paiva – U23 Women’s Pair
Dave Sagal – PR1 Men’s Single
Bronze
Andrew Hubbard – U23 Men’s Single
Jessie Loutit / Karen Lefsrud – Open Women’s Pair
In summary an incredible achievement by Team Alberta. Congratulations to all athletes who participated.
Head Racing
The Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Boston Massachusetts is the largest two day regatta in the world attracting thousands of rowers to race on the famed Charles River. In 2021, for the first time in the history of the 55 year event, Alberta crews took home two gold medals from the regatta; the University of Calgary RC won the Collegiate Fours while the Calgary RC won the Club fours event, in the process setting a course record. Congratulations to both crews.
Canadian University Rowing Championships
The Canadian University Rowing Championships were held in Welland, Ontario November 6 & 7 and represented the first time in nearly two years that athletes from across the country congregated for a regatta. The regatta featured a number of Alberta athletes representing numbers schools from on the west coast, the east coast and parts in-between. Alberta athletes taking home hardware from the event included the following:
Andrew Hubbard – Silver for Queens in the Lightweight Men’s Single
Andrew Hubbard and Bob Bryden – Bronze for Queen’s in the Men’s 8+
Bob Bryden – Silver for Queen’s in the Men’s 2-
Jessica Sevick – Silver for UBC in the Women’s 2-
Jessica Sevick – Gold for UBC in the Women’s 8+
Karissa Riley – Gold for Western in the Lightweight Women’s 2x
Karissa Riley – Gold for Western in the Lightweight Women’s 4+
Axel Ewashko – Gold for UBC in the Open Men’s 8+
Jiaxi (Lucy) Lu – Silver for Queens in the Lightweight Women’s 4+
Rowing Tidbits
- RADAR Reminder. A reminder to all ARA athletes that RADAR submissions are to be submitted in the third week of November, 2021.Athletes who are carded under the ARA Carding initiative are required to complete the battery of tests to continue with their carding eligibility.
- The ARA AGM date is scheduled for November 20th. This year’s event will be held virtually. Anyone who is interested in attending is encouraged to email office@albertarowing.ca to obtain the coordinates to participate.
Upcoming Events
ARA AGM via Zoom November 20th
RADAR Submissions