Strike negotiations no longer prohibit athletics, so practice can resume. I know this is late notice, but I will be there today (Tuesday) if you are ready and willing to erg!
Category Archives: General Information
Temporary Pause Due to Strike Action
Hello folks!
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we just received an e-mail saying that there will, in fact, be a strike tomorrow. Unfortunately, this means that there will be no practice at Westdale until things are settled. It’s hard to say how long that will take, but we have been told at least until the 11th.
I know this is disappointing as you’ve all been working hard, and I’m sorry that you have to miss out on training on the ergs for a bit.
That being said, get outside for a bit of cardio while the weather is still nice!
We will update you as soon as we know more.
-Ms. Duncan
Head of the Charles Regatta and Westdale Athletes
The 52nd Head of the Charles Regatta was held this past weekend and current and past Westdale athletes took part in the racing. All were scullers but we won’t hold that against them :). This is the largest two day rowing regatta in the world and crews from all over the world come to compete.
Here is how they stacked up against the competition.
Youth Women Single: Lauren Gadsdon placed 8th in a time of 23:37.269. She was the top Canadian in this category.
Youth Men Single: Lucas Austin placed 9th in a time of 20:40.674. He was the second fastest Canadian in this category.
Men Club Single: Westdale Alum Aubrey Oldham finished 7th in a time of 20:02.086.
All of these results are outstanding. Top 10 finishes in the Youth category are amazing results. The Westdale and Leander rowing communities are extremely happy for you. Looking forward to seeing what you can do over the winter and into the spring.
westdalerowing.com is here!
You can now access all of your Westdale rowing news through a new name: westdalerowing.com
We are still hosted by wordpress.com but the domain name westdalerowing.com is now ours.
The domain name has just been registered but it can take upwards of 72 hours for it be consistently accessible.
Westdale Secondary School Alumni named to World University Championships (FISU) Team
Rowing Canada has announced their selection for this year’s International University Sports Federation (FISU) team. The team will compete at the 2016 World University Championships in Poznan, Poland, from September 2 – 4.
Selected to this team are two Westdale alumni. These are:
Luke Gadsdon (Brock University – Men’s Four)
Jake Thomasen (McMaster University – Coach)
Also selected to the team are other members of the Leander Boat Club Community:
Hunter Amesbury (Carleton University – Men’s Four)
Logan Madill (McMaster University – Men’s Four)
Yes!!! Three members of the Men’s Four are out of Leander! It should be very inspiring to everyone involved in a rowing program at Leander (high school, club, university) that three athletes and one coach that are part of the Leander Boat Club community are going to Poznan.
If you see Luke, Jake, Hunter, or Logan in your travels this summer pass on a big congratulations to them and wish them luck in Poznan.
Train hard, work with your fellow crew members, listen to your coaches and opportunities such as this await you!
CSSRAs: From a Former Coach
Dear Westdale Rowers,
Mike, Tom, and Peter have kindly allowed me to write a post to all of you in light of the upcoming CSSRA races this weekend, so here it goes 🙂 :
Throughout this past year I’ve had the privilege of seeing the blog updates from Mike and Tom in regards to your hard work, training, and racing results. It’s been incredibly awesome (in the true “awe inspiring” sense of the word) to see how much you’ve all developed athletically and progressed.
I’ve missed coaching you at Westdale, but I know that this year’s team has been doing a great job – both the athletes and the coaches. As you move into your final regatta of the school year, I want to leave you with this:
You’ve worked so hard for this. For many of you, you’ve been training multiple years for this. “Good luck” is something that I could say, but I reckon that “luck” is not as important as executing what you already know and have been trained for. You KNOW what to do. Go do it. Make it yours. And have fun. 😉 Knowing that you’ve left everything you could on the water after rowing to the best of your capabilities as a team is the most important thing. Yes, even more than your final numerical placement on a scoreboard.
I’ll be cheering for you, across a different kind of pond, in a slightly different continent. My heart is at the regatta this weekend.
Miss you all… and sure, I’ll still say it: GOOD LUCK!!!
Alessandra
(Former Westdale Rowing Coach 2006-2015)
Wednesday Practice for Sr Mens Eight
The Sr Mens Eight is practicing tomorrow at the regular 5:30 AM morning time. The lineup is as follows:
Senior Mens 8+
Cox Astara Truman, Keiran Ray-Daniels, Cooper Wylie, Graham West, Evan White, Lucas Austin, Kieran Gargarello, Harrison McCann, Erik Heinbecker
This is the eight that will be racing this Sunday at SNRC and everyone needs to be at practice.
Christening at Mac 2×4
As mentioned at today’s practice the new Westdale Cox Four will be christened at the Mac 2×4 regatta on Saturday. Tom and I are asking all the Westdale athletes that are participating at the Mac 2×4 to stay for the christening. The christening will take place just after the awards ceremony and the awards ceremony will be at 11:00 am.
Please dress in your unisuit for the christening and you can wear any other Westdale gear that you have. If you do not have your unisuit then see me Saturday morning. I will have all the unisuits with me.
Let’s do everything we can to make the christening a success. Be on your best behaviour, represent the school well, and most of all represent yourself.
Clothing order extended to Feb 15th
You can still order clothing from Regatta Sport. The deadline has been extended to February 15th.
CIRC Entries – Need ‘Em
I have very few confirmed entries for CIRC and the entries are due Friday, January 29th 2016 at 5:00 PM EST. This means that if I do not have the entry in the system by that time you will need to make a late entry the day of the regatta. This also means that I need your entry by Thursday, January 28th.
I am asking each of you to confirm your racing entry. If you are not racing then please do NOT email me. I only need confirmations from those racing.
I need an email sent to coachroche@bell.net with the following standard format:
Subject: <insert your name here> confirmation for CIRC
Body of the email must contain:
Name: <insert your name here>
Event: <one from the list below>
Date of Birth: <insert your DoB>
Please ensure that you give your name. It speeds the process. Many times I have no idea who an individual is solely from the email address.
Note: Jr B is essentially grade 9 and 10. (16 or under as of December 31, 2016).
Junior A is grade 11 and 12. (18 or under as of December 31, 2016).
9am/915am: Jr B Lightweight girls (135 and under)
9:30am: Jr B Lightweight Boys (165 and under)
9:45am: Jr. B Girls
10am: Jr. B Boys
10:15am: Coxwains
11am/11:15am: Jr. A Lightweight girls (135 and under)
11:30/11:45am: Jr. A Girls
12/12:15pm: Jr. A Lightweight boys (165 and under)
12:15/12:30pm: Jr A boys
Westdale Rowing Community 