Brock crews successful at National Champs, Five Bridges Classic

It was a successful Saturday for Badger crews on both sides of the country. In Burnaby, British Columbia, ten athletes raced at the annual National Rowing Championships. Unlike the Canadian University Rowing Championships which take place this November in Welland, athletes at NRC’s race under their provincial organizations. Meanwhile in Welland, seven Brock boats competed in the five kilometre Five Bridges Fall Classic head race.

In the Men’s 1x, Matt Finley came 6^th overall, while Nick Heffernan and Alex Roger finished 19^th and 23^rd respectively. Taylor Ashwood, Owen Voelkner, and Brandan Andrews all raced the Lightweight Men’s 1x. Ashwood led the way placing 11^th overall, with Voelkner finishing 16^th, and Andrews coming 21^st.

Luke Gadsdon and his partner finished in 6^th overall, while Brock alumni Dave De Groot placed 2^nd, just two seconds behind first. On the women’s side, Alyssa Toffolo and Isabella Mazzarolo teamed up to come in 20^th place, while Amanda Martin and her partner finished 25^th.

Closer to home, part of the Brock Women’s team and the new-to-rowing Novice program competed in the first head race of the season. The race takes place over five kilometres and consists of racing through five different bridges through downtown Welland. Brock crews won two varsity events, the University 4+ and University 2x, and finished second overall in the Open Women’s 8+. In the Novice events, which consist of athletes who are in their first season of competitive rowing, Brock finished second in the Men’s 8+ and third in the Women’s 8+.

Brock will be in action next weekend in Peterborough at the Head of the Trent Regatta.

Brock Rowers find podium 11 times at Guelph Invite

Brock kicked off the 2016 OUA season in style this Saturday, as 11 crews made the podium at the Guelph Invitational Regatta. Competing at the regatta was Brock, Western University, University of Toronto, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, McMaster University, and host Guelph.

Finishing first overall was the Open Women’s 8+ of Brianna Hamilton, Lauren Kniewasser, Alicia Piazza, Isabella Mazzarolo, Alyssa Toffolo, Kayla Krasnor, Erin Corkery, Brianna Spanics, and Aly Knott. Also finishing first was Jacob Thomas in the Open Men’s 1x.

Placing second overall was the Open Men’s 4+, Open Women’s 4+, Lightweight Men’s 2x, Lightweight Women’s 8+, and the Open Men’s 8+. The Lightweight Men’s 1x, Lightweight Men’s 8+, Lightweight Women’s 4+, and the second Open Women’s 8+ all finished in third place.

Next weekend, Brock crews will be in action across the country. Some athletes will be competing for their province at the National Rowing Championships in Burnaby, B.C., while others will be racing at the Five Bridges Classic in Welland.

Two Badgers alumni named to Olympic team

On Tuesday, June 28 Rowing Canada Aviron announced the crews that will be representing Canada at the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the 30 members named to the team were Brock University alumni Eric Woelfl of St. Catharines, and Tim Schrijver of Thedford, Ontario.

Eric, a member of the Lightweight Men’s 4, studied History at Brock from 2008 to 2012. He credits his success and opportunities in rowing to the Brock Rowing and Ridley Graduate Boat Club community, and the teammates and coaches that have supported him throughout his career. Eric has been representing Canada since 2010, and has competed at two Under 23 World Championships, four Senior World Championships, and two Pan-Am Games. At the 2015 Pan-Am Games, Eric was a member of the Lightweight Men’s 4- that won gold on his home water, at the Royal Canadian Henley Course

Tim, in the Heavyweight Men’s 4, was a Kinesiology student at Brock from 2010 until 2014. In the Fall of 2010 he joined the Brock Novice Rowing Team and hasn’t looked back. He is thankful for the start that the Brock program gave him, as without them he may have never began rowing. Tim has previously represented Canada five times, including two Under-23 World Championships, one FISU World Championship, one Senior World Championship, and one Pan-Am Games. His top results include a gold in both the Heavyweight Four and Heavyweight Eight at the 2015 Pan-Am Games, a gold in the Coxed Four at the 2014 Under 23 World Championships, a second place finish in the Heavyweight Four at the 2015 FISU World Championships, and a fourth place finish at the 2015 Senior World Championships.

Rowing will take place in the first week of the Olympics, which will take place from August 6-13.

Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta Draw

Brock Rowing is excited to be hosting the 8th annual Tony Biernacki Sr. Memorial Regatta at the Welland International Flatwater Centre North Course. The regatta, named after Brock’s longest tenured coach, is one of the largest competitions for Masters rowing in Ontario. The former coach played a large role in starting both Women’s and Master’s rowing in the Niagara region during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Racing begins and 10:35 and will run until 4:15.

Attached is the draw.

Brock wins two medals at Dad Vail, shows strong results at Selection Trials

The spring rowing season continued this weekend, as Brock had 23 athletes racing at the Dad Vail regatta in Philadelphia and Rowing Canada’s U23/FISU/ Non-Olympic World trials in Welland. There were strong results across the board as all crews reached the final in Philidelphia, and four crews made the A final in Welland.

The Dad Vail Regatta, regarded as the largest intercollegiate regatta in the United States with over 104 schools entered, took place from May 13-14.  Brock continued their tradition of being one of the top schools to attend the regatta, as they captured two medals while narrowly missing a third. The Women’s 2- of Isabella Mazzarolo and Alyssa Toffolo captured gold; they won their time trial, semi-final, and final by large margins. Winning silver was the Men’s Varsity 4+ of Jacob Thomas, Ian Pierce, Will Bryden, Ryan Malcowski, and Marina Rose. The crew narrowly missed out on gold, losing to Georgia Tech by less than two seconds. Finally, the Women’s Varsity 4+ of Brianna Hamilton, Lauren Kniewasser, Tori Carroll, Kayla Krasnor, and Laura Court, with a combined 10 months of rowing between the four oarswomen, finished in fourth place by just over two seconds. For all crews it is a strong building block for both the summer and fall seasons.

The first on-water selection of the year for U23, FISU, and Senior Non-Olympic Worlds began on Saturday with time trials and semifinals for all events. Brock had four crews progress to the A final, one of only two universities to reach that mark. Grayson Gray and Taylor Ashwood continued their success from the fall season, winning the Lightweight Men’s 2- in a time of 7:17. In the Men’s Heavyweight 2-, Zach Koroll and Nick Heffernan placed second, finishing with a time of 7:30. Just five seconds behind them in fifth place was the Brock pair of Zak Lewis and Scott Murphy. In the Men’s Heavyweight 1x, Matt Finley placed in sixth with a time of 7:54. Selection for all three teams will continue this week, with final crews announced in June.

Dad Vail Results

U23/FISU/Senior Non-Olympic Worlds Results

 

Summer Youth Sculling School

Brock Rowing will once again be hosting rowers age 13-19 at the five day Youth Sculling School. Participants will get a chance to improve their sculling skills in a wide variety of boats before the fall high school season begins.

Dates: July 4-8/ July 11-15/ July 18-22/ July 25-29/ Aug 8-12/ Aug 15-19

Time: 8:30-12:30 (Coaches will be present 30 minutes before and after for pick-up and drop-off.

Location: Brock Badgers Boat Bays (12 and 13), Henley Island

Price: $225

Register at https://www.regattacentral.com/clubs/?org_id=3839

Badger Crews Have Big Weekend on International Stage

Brock Rowing kicked off their 2016 season this past weekend, as the Heavyweight Men’s 8+ competed in the Copley Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic. Considered one of the most prestigious events of the regatta, this invitation-only race brings together the top rowing programs from around North America. Yale University, defending champions of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate at the Henley Royal Regatta, finished first overall in a time of 5:58. The Brock crew, consisting of coxswain Jamie Germond, Luke Gadsdon, Matt Finley, Nick Heffernan, Zack Koroll, Matt Gamey, Scott Murphy, Zak Lewis, and Ryan Malcowski finished 8^th overall. The team will begin small boat training in preparation for Rowing Canada Spring Trials and the Dad Vail Regatta. Spring Trials take place in Welland on the May 14^th weekend, while Dad Vail is the same weekend in Philadelphia.

Alumni of Brock were also in action on the international stage this weekend, as Tim Schrijver and Eric Woelfl competed for Canada in the Men’s 4- event at the Memorial Paolo D’Aloja Regatta in Piediluco, Italy. Tim, in the Heavyweight Men’s 4-, finished in 2^nd while Eric, in the Lightweight 4-, finished in 3^rd. They will now travel to Corgeno, Italy in preparation for World Cup 1, which begins on April 15^th in Varese. World Cup 1 serves as one of the final regattas before Canadian crews head to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Olympics. Lineups for crews will be announced on June 28^th.

Full results from the weekend can be found at crewclassic.org and http://www.memorialdaloja.org

1st Annual Brock Rowing Gala

Join alumni, current team members, friends and family of the Brock Rowing program at the Inaugural Brock Rowing Gala for an evening of fun, celebration and camaraderie. The event will feature a silent auction, games, prizes, music and a delicious five-course meal. This is to become an annual fundraising event honouring Brock Rowing and its supporters.

Brock Rowing is proud to present Dr. Melanie Kok as our guest speaker.

Melanie is a Canadian rower and five-time member of the Canadian National Rowing team. She has won two World Cup medals, two World Rowing Championships medals, a Pan Am Games silver medal, as well as a bronze medal in the Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls at the 2008 Olympic Games. Melanie is also incredibly accomplished in her professional life, holding a Master’s Degree and PhD in Neuroscience. The University of Western Ontario scholar recently earned a Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal.

Gala tickets are $75.00. A table of  ten people can be purchased for $690.

Tickets can be purchased at: https://brockrowing.yapsody.com/event/index/28456/1st-annual-brock-rowing-gala.

Please register by purchasing a ticket online  by Monday, March 14, 2016.

An after-party will be organized for guests planning on continuing the festivities after the Gala. More details will be announced as the event approaches.

Please visit our Facebook Event Page closer to the event for more details.

Brock Men finish 2nd; Women finish 4th at Canadian University Rowing Championships

Competing against the top universities in the country, the Brock Men’s and Women’s Rowing teams showed they remain one of the premier programs in the country. The regatta, which was hosted by St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, brings together the top schools in the country to compete for the National Championships. Western continued their dominant ways, winning the Men’s and Women’s Championships, a week after doing the same at OUA’s.

Third year student Matt Finley was the first Badger on the water Sunday, racing the Heavyweight Men’s 1x. In his first of three races on the day, he finished in 4^th place. Karl Zimmermann of McMaster took gold, finishing in 7:06. The next men’s race of the day, the Lightweight Men’s 1x, had James Myers finishing in 4^th place. Western Ontario’s Matt Christie picked up gold, finishing just 3 seconds ahead of Myers in a time of 7:13. Myers and Finley were both part of the Men’s 8+, along with coxie Jamie Germond, Luke Gadsdon, Dave de Groot, Zachary Koroll, Zak Lewis, Scott Murphy, and Spencer Brennan. The crew capped off their season winning gold in a time of 5:50, two seconds ahead of Western Ontario.

Winning bronze in the Lightweight Men’s 2x was Grayson Gray and Taylor Ashwood, with University of Victoria coming first with Trent University close behind in 2^nd. Shortly after, Finley and de Groot won their second gold of the day in the Men’s 2-, beating second place Western Ontario by five seconds. It was a great finish to the season for the duo, after finishing second at NRC’s and winning OUA’s. The last race of the day for the men’s team was the Lightweight Men’s 4+, featuring Germond, Gray, Ashwood, Brandan Andrews and Zach Whiteley. Western Ontario finished in first place, five seconds ahead of Brock.

On the women’s side, Jen Beaudette and Vicky Lea Thompson got the day started in the Lightweight Women’s 2x, finishing in 6^th place. The Western Ontario 2x of Larissa Werbicki and Jill Moffat dominated the field, finishing 13 seconds ahead of University of Victoria. The Women’s 2- won the first medal of the day in the next race, coming second overall. Steph Mowder and Kat Walker, racing for the first time together, finished four seconds behind the University of British Columbia crew made up of Hillary Janssens and Emily Gersons. The Lightweight Women’s 4+, with Beaudette, Thompson, Sarah Mambella, Erin Corkery, and coxie Laura Court finished in 5^th place, with Western Ontario winning by nine seconds over second place University of Victoria.

The two members of the silver medal winning 2-, Walker and Mowder both raced in 1x events later in the day. Racing the Women’s Heavyweight 1x was Mowder, and she repeated her bronze medal performance from OUA’s coming in third. Winning gold was Layla Balooch of University of Victoria with Larkin Davenport-Huyer of Queen’s University finishing in second place. Walker came in 4^th place in the Lightweight Women’s 1x, with her FISU 2x partner Alex Stefanovski of Western Ontario finishing in 1^st. The final event of the day, the Women’s 8+, was won by University of British Columbia. Coxie Andrea Jansen, Jen Beaudette, Alyssa Toffolo, Karen Dancy, Isabella Mazzarolo, Taylor Iseppon, Alex Dunlap, Corkery and Mambella finished in 6^th place.

Matt Finley won Male Rower of the Year on Sunday night, while HeadCoach/Heavyweight Men’s Peter Somerwil won Men’s Coach of the Year. Finley won gold in both the 8+ and 2- at OUA’s and CURC’s, while Somerwil guided his crews to winning three events at the OUA’s and two events at CURC’s. Matt Waddell of Western Ontario was name Women’s Coach of the Year. Hillary Janssens of UBC won Women’s Rower of the Year.

Full results can be found at Regatta Data.

CURC Saturday Draw Announced

The 2015 Canadian University Rowing Championships take place this weekend in Lochaber, Nova Scotia. Racing begins tomorrow morning at 9AM with time trials, which will seed crews for the Sunday finals.

Attached is the draw for Saturday’s racing.

CURC Saturday Draw