Please see the following UPDATED schedule for your boating lineups and training days until CSSRAs:
Monday, June 1st: Sr. Men’s 1x – Luke Jr. Men’s 1x – Erik Jr. Men’s 2x (Justice) – Harrison & Lucas Sr. Men’s 2x (Bishop Ryan) – Max & Kieran
PM: Club 1x (Luke) option with Alethia Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x (Justice) – JJ & Cooper with Alessandra
Tuesday, June 2nd: Sr. Men’s 1x – Luke Jr. Men’s 1x – Erik Jr. Men’s 2x (Justice) – Harrison & Lucas Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x (STM) – JJ & Cooper
PM: Sr. Men’s 2x (Stocks) – Max & Kieran with Alessandra
Wednesday, June 3rd: (Derig/Trailer Loading) Sr. Men’s 4x (Ad Astra) – Luke/Max/Kieran/Erik Jr. Men’s 2x (Justice) – Harrison & Lucas Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x (STM) – JJ & Cooper *derig the Ad Astra, Justice, and Stocks after practice and load to the trailer
PM: Club 1x (Luke) option with Alethia before car-topping & transporting 1x to St. Kitt’s
Thursday, June 4th (St. Kitt’s Practice Day): Practice at LBC:
Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x (STM) – JJ & Cooper Practice at St. Catherine’s: *Luke & JJ away for graduation formal *Meet Alessandra at 11am in Westdale Secondary School parking lot by the gates to the football field. The bus will leave immediately following attendance.
Jr. Men’s 1x
Jr. Men’s 2x
Sr. Men’s 2x
Friday, June 5th – Sunday, June 7th = CSSRAs (info can be found here).
Please review this schedule carefully and contact me if you have any questions/concerns.
I’m aware that some of you are being asked to train occasionally during the PM session in order to accommodate equipment availability. Please understand that this is due to equipment limitations and boating ratio limits. If anything changes, I will let you know immediately. I appreciate your flexibility during this final week.
You’ve made it! We’re now heading into the final few days before our biggest regatta of the season, the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Championships, hosted by the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association (“CSSRA”).
Now that the races are just a few days away, I’m posting some very important information about the training, racing, and year-end party.
*Extremely Important*As explained in the document, Dina Gadsdon (parent rep) has been coordinating the food signup for the Parents’ Tent. If each family can sign up for approximately $30-40 worth of food, then food costs for the full weekend will be covered. You can sign up to contribute food items by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19QGcBLPnAkXrf_mbyEYnfRKv3XYEnkdfTfHKK-9JvIA/edit?usp=sharing
Any questions regarding food signup (explained in the Parent Info document) should be sent to Dina Gadsdon (Dina’s contact info is also listed in the info document).
TRAINING & RACING INFORMATION:
1) De-rigging on Wednesday, June 3rd All boats must be derigged on Wednesday morning and loaded on the trailer following practice.
For the Men’s Team: The following boats must be derigged & loaded on Wednesday AM:
-Ad Astra (Luke/Max/Kieran/Erik)
-Stocks (Max/Kieran/HSC athletes)
-Justice (Harrison/Lucas/JJ/Cooper)
The following boats can be derigged anytime before Thursday’s practice in St. Catharines:
-Gadsdon 1x *must be car-topped (practicing on Thursday AM)
-Heinbecker 1x *must be car-topped
2) Thursday Practice (June 4th): All athletes racing CSSRAs are expected to attend Thursday’s practice in St. Catharines, unless otherwise discussed with a coach. All athletes should meet me (Alessandra) at 11:00am at the entrance to the football field at the back of Westdale Secondary School. We will then take attendance & board the bus. I’ll be supervising the bus ride, and the other coaches will meet us there. For liability reasons, all athletes are expected to take the bus.
Practice Plan: -Arrive, rig boats & clean, eat lunch
-Session 1 (approx. 1-2:30)
-Debrief & snack
-Session 2 (approx. 3-4:30pm)
-Debrief & pack up *Each session enables crews to go in primary and secondary boats. Session time includes warmup, cooldown, and stretching. If you only have one boat to practice in on Thursday, then please bring extra homework/etc.
You must bring: -water
-food (bring a lunch & LOTS of snacks – we’ll be at the course from 12-5pm)
-change of clothes
-workout/training clothes (ideally NOT showing Westdale colours – it’s a tradition to wear non-school clothing so that other crews can’t tell which school you’re from until the day you race)
-yourself, on time (11am)
3) Preliminary Race Draw: The preliminary race draw has not yet been posted, but will be made available soon on the CSSRA website. Please check the main website to find a copy of the draw once it’s posted by clicking here: http://www.cssra.ca/
You must bring your unisuit, student ID (or photo ID with date of birth), food/water, sunscreen, and change of clothes. We also recommend that you bring a tent or place to rest in the shade. Arrival times for crews will be posted on Thursday, June 4th, once the race draw has been finalized.
YEAR-END PARTY:
Our End-of-Year Party will take place at 7pm at the Westdale Kelsey’s on Main St. West (across from the school) in the downstairs party room (basement section). All athletes and parents are invited. This includes athletes that practiced in afternoons OR mornings, injured athletes, and/or rowers that have already completed their season with the City Champs. The event is for everyone.
We will be handing out the following awards (***oooooh, ahhhh, awards!***) at the party:
-Jr. Men’s & Women’s Indoor MVP
-Sr. Men’s & Women’s Indoor MVP
-Jr. Men’s & Women’s Outdoor MVP
-Sr. Men’s & Women’s Outdoor MVP
-Men’s & Women’s Rookie of the Year
We will also be announcing any relevant information concerning Summer Rowing & Heart and Stroke Rowing opportunities.
Regatta Sport has just contacted us to confirm that the visors have arrived and are ready for pickup by a coach tomorrow afternoon (I’ll go to pick them up). This means that visors can be distributed Saturday morning at practice (or at your next practice at the club).
The jackets are still in production (I know, we can all collectively sigh in frustration) but they should be done soon and the staff at Regatta Sport will keep us posted.
Thanks for your patience – trust me when I say the coaching staff shares in your desire to have the order completed!
Alessandra
Congratulations on a job well done at the City Championships. Here’s a quick recap for those who missed it:
Recap of City Champs & Results:
-Men’s Team entered 9 boats in 8 events
-Women’s Team entered 14 boats in 11 events
-Points were awarded for 1st and 2nd place finishes (listed below) First Place Finishes:
-Jr. Men’s 4+
-Jr. Women’s 63kg 8+ (winning both the 63kg and Open categories)
-Sr. Women’s 8+
-Sr. Men’s 1x
-Sr. Women’s 1x (Vamosi)
-Jr. Women’s 59kg 4+
-Jr. Women’s 63kg 4+
-Sr. Women’s 2x
-Sr. Men’s 4x
-Jr. Men’s 2x
-Sr. Women’s 4+
-Sr. Men’s 8+ Second Place Finishes:
-Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x
-Sr. Men’s 2x
-Jr. Women’s 2x
-Jr. Men’s 1x (racing in the Sr. Men’s 1x event)
-Sr. Women’s 1x (Murray)
-Jr. Men’s 72kg 2x
-Jr. Women’s 4x
Based on points, the Women’s Team finished first place overall, with Ancaster taking second place. The Men’s Team finished a close second overall to St. Mary’s. As a whole, The Westdale Rowing Team won the City Championships with a cumulative total of 293 points. Way to go Warriors!
Fun “First” Facts:
-This is the first time Westdale has won the City Champs since 2012
-This is the first time every athlete on the men’s team has received a gold medal at City Champs
Please Note: Medals will be available later this week, once they’ve been distributed by Steffan.
Weekly Training AM Crews:
The training plan can be found here: WSS Rowing 2015 Training Schedule (A. Gage – MAY & JUNE)
WEEKDAYS: Arrival time is 5:15am for weekdays, and end-time is 7:40am.
WEEKENDS: Practice is held on Saturday morning at LBC at 5:45am, with an end-time of 8:00am.
Weekly Training PM Crews:
The training plan is the same as in the above link, but your training time is 3:30-5:30pm, Monday-Friday. Peter, Tom, Alessandra, and Hudson are the coaches who will supervise the PM training on a rotational basis.
There’s a lot of information in this post, so please bear with me:
City Championships Info:
Parents Information – Hamilton City Champs – Parent Information
Arrival Time – 6:30am ALL ATHLETES
Race Draw – City Champs draw v.2 – UPDATED FRIDAY *WARNING: City champs involves wet-launching, so please bring extra socks. Also, please leave your cellphones in your bags to avoid losing or damaging your phones in the water (this happens almost every year).*
Crew Dinner Info:
The crew dinner will be held at the Mandarin on Upper James Street (1508 Upper James Street, L9B 1K3) at 6:30pm. This should give you ample time to finish your ice-cream at Hutches and change after the races. The reservation has been made for 40 people, which should accomodate all 37 athletes, plus coaches. There will be two long tables of 20 seats each.
Rowing Clothing/Swag:
Swag will be distributed tomorrow morning at the regatta. After reviewing all the items received from RS, there are still items we’re waiting on (jackets and visors). We have hats, hoodies, tee-shirts, and most other items. We are following up with Regatta Sport to obtain the rest of the order.
CSSRAs:
All athletes are expected to be available all day from Thursday, June 4th – Sunday, June 7th for the CSSRA national championships regatta in St. Catherine’s. Please speak to employers, teachers, and anyone else who should know (other coaches, etc.) to book the time off now.
We have already begun the process of booking our bus for our CSSRA practice. All athletes should be aware that they are expected to practice at Henley Island on Thursday, June 4th, during the day. A bus will transport all athletes to and from the race course, leaving from Westdale Secondary School.
*WARNING FOR GRADE 12s: This is the same day as prom, if you need special accomodation then you need to let your coaches know immediately.*
Here is the race schedule for tomorrow. The crews rowing lightweight and midweight will need to weigh in at 6:30 AM at Leander. See Coach Allie’s post on times.
I had to make an adjustment to the coxie in event 19 (see below) as Arnaud needs to cox the Sr M 8+. Also the Sr W 63kg 4+ is not entered (according to the race committee) so you are not racing. Yes, I tried to get an entry.
Race# Event Crew Coxie
2 Jr W 63kg 8+ Arnaud
2 Jr W 8+ PM quads Alles
6 Jr W 2X Lauren, Victoria
9 Sr W 8+ Alles
11 Sr W 1x Madison
11 Sr W 1x Jocelyn
12 Jr W 63kg 4+ Katie, Sofia, Samara, Zoe Alles
12 Jr W 59kg Astara,Sadie,Kenzie,Stephanie Arnaud
14 Sr W 63kg 2x Maddy Claire
14 Sr W 2x Jocelyn, Madison
18 Jr W 4x PM Quads
19 Sr W 4+ Lauren, Victoria, Allie, Taylor Alles
Due to the time it’s taken to review the orders and determine missing items, swag will be distributed on Saturday at City Champs.
Thanks for your understanding,
Rowing Swag: Yes! It has arrived! I’m reviewing the order today to ensure that we’ve received everything correctly before distributing to athletes. Jackets and visors are still on their way, but hats are already in, as are t-shirts and hoodies. I’m still checking the status of the 1/4 zip hoodie and other items.
City Champs (General Schedule): 6:30am – Arrival time for all athletes is 6:30am at Leander Boat Club. Athletes needing to weigh-in must do so immediately upon arrival. All other athletes should set up the coach boats & take out the required blades and equipment. 7am – Row all boats over to Bayfront Park and place on stretchers or grass. 8:30am – Start of races 12pm – Tentative end-time of races 1pm – Awards Ceremony (plus the obligatory post-race ice-cream at Hutches) 6pm – CREW DINNER *LOCATION TBD*
Crew Dinner: We’ll be holding a crew dinner following City Champs to celebrate the end of City’s & the start of the final two weeks leading to CSSRAs. Location is between the Mandarin or Boston Pizza or East Side Marios. Preference will be decided via a team meeting tomorrow morning after practice.
Great job this weekend at the SNRC Highschool Invitational Regatta. The regatta has given us some much needed racing experience for all crews, and I’m happy to report that we’ve broken a new record in the history of the Westdale Rowing Team:
Records broken:
-Highest total number of events (both men’s & women’s) where we’ve achieved medals, with 2 golds, 3 silvers, and 1 bronze (medals in 6 events total).
-First time in Westdale Rowing history where the Men’s Team has achieved medals in every event they entered (5 events total: 2 golds, 3 silvers).
Results Recap (for those that were unable to attend):
-Westdale entered a total of 15 events (5 events for the Men’s team, 10 for the women’s team).
-7 crews raced in 5 events on the Men’s Team, one crew from each event made the final (5 crews, 5 events)
-11 crews raced in 10 events on the Women’s Team, 6 crews made it to the finals in 6 different events. Women’s Team Finals & Medals:
-Jr. Women’s 2x & Sr. Women’s 63kg 1x both placed 5th in their final
-Jr. Women’s 59kg 4+, Sr. Women’s 8+, and Sr. Women’s 1x all placed 4th in their finals
-Sr. Women’s 63kg 8+ placed 3rd in their final, securing bronze medals for the crew Men’s Team Finals & Medals:
-Sr. Men’s 4x, Sr. Men’s 1x, and Jr. Men’s 1x all placed second in their finals, securing silver medals for their crews
-Jr. Men’s 2x & Sr. Men’s 2x both placed first in their finals, securing gold medals in their crews
…Congrats, rowers! SNRCs is a great indicator for CSSRAs, as it’s a larger regatta and provides everyone with race experience against a broader (and deeper) field of competition. We still have three weeks until CSSRAs, so there’s still lots that we can work on to better prepare us for our national races.
Training Plan for this Week:
See training plan PDF here – WSS Rowing 2015 Training Schedule (A. Gage – MAY & JUNE) Men’s Team – you’ll be in the Sr. Men’s 8+ with Arnaud as coxswain on Friday in order to prep for City Champs.
City Champs:
City Champs is this Saturday. Please expect to remain from early morning until mid/late afternoon. We’ll be holding a crew dinner following the regatta (and following the ice-cream devouring) to celebrate the end of City Champs & the start of the final two weeks leading to CSSRAs. Also, because food. When is food ever wrong? Answer: never.
See you all tomorrow morning, bright and early, at 5:15am.
All athletes need to derig and load the trailer tonight – we don’t leave until all the boats are on.
Rigging will happen tonight at LBC as soon as the trailer is back in Hamilton. This will likely be 7pm. I will post a new update once we’ve got a more updated time.
Westdale Rowing Community 