WCSG Camps
The ARA hosted a pair of Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG) camps in Calgary, and Edmonton for approximately 25 age-eligible athletes this past month. Athletes who attended the camps were given the opportunity to row in a variety of boating combinations designed to mimic a selection process. Afterwards, athletes were treated to a dinner where they were informed of our expectations in the year ahead, which are:
- The 2015 Western Canada Summer Games will be held in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Rowing will be contested on the Snye, a 1,000m course from August 13-16, 2015.
- Selection for the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games will occur in June 2015 and will be done in singles and pairs; designed to provide each athlete with a rank based on their on-water performance.
- Attendance at the 2015 Selection Camp will be by invite only and based on an athletes 2K erg score. As a guideline only athletes should be looking to achieve a 2K erg score of approximately 7:05 (Men) and 8:05 (Women) to be granted an invite to the Selection Camp. The ARA will confirm these standards in early 2015.
- The WCSG is a High Performance Event. Athletes who don’t put forth the effort to attend practice on a regular basis will be hard pressed to make the team in 2015.
- The ARA is open to answer any questions or concerns you may have as you prepare for 2015. Our contact information can be found on the ARA Webpage at albertarowing.ca
HENLEY FUNDING:
With over 20 Alberta boats racing in a Henley Final, determining which athletes were eligible for Henley Funding was harder than ever. Athletes selected for Henley Funding finished within the top 33% of their respective field in a Henley Race, raced in a Henley final and had met the ARA’s Erg requirement. The athletes in no particular order are:
S Garber / J Allan / G Allan / K Lefsrud / M Hohnstein
M Lukacs / A Belzil / K Gruchalla- Wesierski / I Belzil / Q Brandly / D Doyle-Baker / M Kirker / J Loutit / T Tietz / K Guran / S Holloway / V Ulrich / K Mort
Congratulations to all who participated at Henley in 2014.
WESTERN CANADA UNIVERSITY ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Alberta Rowing Association is playing host to the 2014 Western Canada University Rowing Championships (WCURC) on October 18, 2014 in Calgary, Alberta. This regatta represents the first time since the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games that athletes representing the provinces of British-Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will race here in Alberta.
We at the Alberta Rowing Association are excited to play host to this event and hope you are as well. We at the ARA encourage you to get you, your friends and your family to come down to the Glenmore Reservoir on October 18, 2014 and cheer on some of our country’s best young athletes as they race for their respective university in pursuit of WCURC Gold.
If you are interested in volunteering your time to help us in making this a successful event we encourage you to email albertarowing@gmail.com
Alberta based universities / colleges should be aware that entries are due on Tuesday October 14, 2014.
NATIONAL ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2014 National Rowing Championships are scheduled for November 7-9 in Victoria, British Columbia. The ARA is close to finalizing its selection document detailing how athletes can make themselves eligible to represent Alberta at this event. We hope to have this distributed by the end of the week. We apologize for all delays.
COACHING EDUCATION:
Friday November 28th through to Sunday November 30th the ARA in conjunction with the Edmonton Rowing Club will host RCA Coach Weekend #1. This course is designed for those coaches who are coaching athletes in the Training to Train or early Learn to Compete stages of LTAD. Chris Davidson, an Olympian at the 2000 Sydney Games and Team Alberta Coach at the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games and 2009 Canada Summer Games will moderate the course. Chris is a certified level III coach with a Masters degree in exercise physiology.
The cost to attend this course is $100. If you are interested in attending this session please contact Steve Fitzjohn @ sfitzjohn@shaw.ca or the ARA directly at albertarowing@gmail.com.
Rowing Tidbits
- Mark Laidlaw, coach of the University of Calgary Dino’s Rowing program coached Canada to a bronze and silver medal in the men’s 8+ and four events respectively at the 2014 World University Games in Gravelines France.
- Are you the gambling type? Think you know rowing? If so now is the time to get in on the action. Readers can now go online and make their picks for the 2014 Head of the Charles Regatta. http://www.row2k.com/hocr/pickem.cfm#.VDIIJkvtgdv
- In an effort to rehabilitate her body for the 2018 Winter Games, Olympic medalist Christine Nesbitt could be found in a rowing shell this past summer on the banks of the Glenmore Reservoir.
Upcoming Events
- WCURC Regatta – Calgary, Alberta October 18, 2014
- Head of the Gorge / Elk Regatta October 25-26, Victoria, British Columbia.
- Canadian University Rowing Championships November 1-2 Victoria, British-Columbia.