NRC 2014
Amongst near perfect conditions, 25 Alberta athletes competed against Canada’s best at the 2014 National Rowing Championships this past weekend in Victoria, British-Columbia. For those unfamiliar with the format of the event, the National Rowing Championships is truly the only regatta on the calendar where medallists from the 2014 World Championships (Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee in the Lightweight Women’s double and members of Canada’s Senior Women’s 8+) line up and race head to head against junior, U23 and senior athletes across the country. Adding to the intrigue of the event, athletes race exclusively in singles and pairs to determine a true national champion and provide athletes with a national ranking. Needless to say the environment can be both intimidating and inspiring but as this weekend showed, Alberta athletes fare quite well against this country’s best.
Alberta athletes returned home from this years event winning two medals just off our best from 2012 where we won three medals. Nicole Hare won bronze in the U23 Women 1x while Claire Hinse and Veronique Ulrich took home bronze in the Junior Women’s Pair. Alberta athletes who finished in the top twelve of their respective event were as follows:
C Hinse and V Ulrich 3rd Junior Women’s Pair
S Garber – 8th U23 Men’s Single and 13th place overall.
K Guran – 7th U23 Women’s Single and 17th place overall
J and G Allan – 4th Junior Men’s Pair and 11th place overall
J Loutit and K Morrison – Ontario – 9th place overall
O McMurray and K Gruchalla Wesierski – 11th place overall
N Hare -3rd U23 Single and 9th place overall
K Lefsrud – 7th U23 Single and 17th place overall
R Finley – 9th U23 Light Single and 20th place overall
Regardless of one’s finish it is the hope of the ARA that the event inspired athletes as the focus now turns to winter training.
WESTERN CANADA SUMMER GAMES
In the October 2014 ARA Report it was communicated that attendance at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG) Selection Camp was by invite only and based on an athletes 2K erg score. At the time the erg standard was unknown but upon further consultation the ARA has set the 2,000m erg requirement at 7:05 (Men) and 8:05 (Women).
Athletes who wish to be eligible for consideration for the 2015 Games must meet this erg requirement.
As an added incentive to WCSG age eligible athletes the ARA is in talks with the Saskatchewan Rowing Association, the Manitoba Rowing Association and Rowing Canada about holding a WCSG Winter Camp in Regina, Saskatchewan in late February / early March. The camp will be restricted to a select few who achieve certain erg and or Talent Identification requirements. While the erg standard has not been established at this time, athletes looking to attend this camp should be looking to achieve a 2K erg score at or near 7:35 (Women) and 6:35 (Men).
WESTERN CANADA UNIVERSITY ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Alberta Rowing Association played host to the 2014 Western Canada University Rowing Championships (WCURC) on October 18, 2014 in Calgary, Alberta. This regatta marked the first time since the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games that athletes representing the provinces of British-Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan raced in Alberta
Despite a September snowstorm that raised fears of hosting a late October regatta in Alberta, the weather gods smiled upon us by providing near perfect conditions for a rowing event. The event itself was dominated by the University of British-Columbia who took home both the Men’s and Women’s championship banners. Alberta schools, however were not shut out of medals with the University of Calgary winning both the Novice Men’s and Novice Women’s 8+ events, Lakeland winning both the Novice Men’s and Novice Women’s coxed four events (4+) and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (K Guran) winning the Lightweight Women Single event.
A special thank-you goes out to the countless number of volunteers and officials who made the event a tremendous success.
CANADIAN UNIVERSITY ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The University of Alberta and University of Calgary were both represented at the 2014 Canadian University Rowing Championships in Victoria, British-Columbia. The event itself features the best university rowers from across the country vying for the title of national champion in 6 separate events for men and women (Open 1x, Lightweight 1x, Lightweight 2x, Lightweight 4+, Open Pair, Open Eight). While neither school returned home with any hardware this year, both schools did have athletes racing in an “A” final; They are:
University of Calgary
H Hlas -– 6th Place – Open Women’s Single
R Kokts Porietis and G Waugh – 6th Place Open Women’s Pair
University of Alberta
O Tietz – 4th Place – Lightweight Men’s Single
A Labrecque and A Cinnamon 4th Place Open Women’s Pair
As the ARA has indicated in the past high school rowers across the province have a difficult choice in selecting the right university / college. Many students who do decide to leave home, do so on the premise that an out of province school has a better rowing program; only to quit the sport two years later because they don’t get the opportunities that they were hoping for. Alberta’s universities and colleges do feature smaller rowing programs than some out of province programs but as evidenced they do produce good athletes. Sometimes it pays to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond rather than getting lost in the ocean.
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
- RADAR Reminder. A reminder to all ARA athletes that RADAR submissions are due November 23rd. The ARA encourages all athletes to complete the battery of tests that are required as part of RADAR and post their scores on the on-line database.
- Rachael L’Orsa – President and athlete with the University of Calgary Rowing Club was recently named as Avenue Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40. Check out the article at http://www.avenuecalgary.com/Top-40-Under-40/Rachael-LOrsa/
- Olivia McMurray was featured in an Airdrie Echo article just prior to the 2014 National Rowing Championships. http://www.airdrieecho.com/2014/11/04/rower-heading-to-nationals
- The 2014 Alberta Rowing Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) is being held this upcoming Saturday (November 15th) in Red Deer, Alberta. The meeting starts at 9:00am with a general discussion on the year that was. The formal part of the AGM begins at 1:00pm. The event is being held at the iHotel on 67th Street in Red Deer Alberta. The event is open to all.
Upcoming Events
- ARA AGM November 15th – Red Deer Alberta
RADAR Submissions Due November 22nd.