Westdale Rowing Community

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Friday – CSSRA times

Dear Westdale Rowers & Parents,

The time has come! It’s the day before the races. The boats are rigged, washed, and ready to go. The blades are set. You should all feel confident that you’ve done absolutely everything you can to prepare for the regatta – because you have. As coaches, we know that you’re ready for this.

As it is a Westdale tradition, I’d like to leave you all with two short clips to watch before your races. Remember: this is your time. Go out there, give it your best, and have fun. Anything is possible.

Versus: 

Inches:

…bring your passion, bring your spirit, and bring your A-game. You CAN do this.

Now, for the arrival & race time information:
General Info:
-Weigh ins are open from 7-11am. You ONLY weigh-in on the day(s) that you are racing.
-Coxswains must weigh-in with their coach (or crew, if applicable)
-All athletes must bring current, valid student ID or photo ID (driver’s license, passport), team unisuit, sunscreen & water
-It is strongly recommended that athletes bring a tent or place to stay in the shade
-Additional information is listed here

Arrival Times for Athletes that ARE NOT racing on Friday = 9:30am
We ask that all athletes that have Friday “off” from racing arrive at the course by 9:30am. This is to support and cheer on the other crews racing, in time for the first race of the day (the Sr. Men’s Double). For the women’s team, this includes anyone racing in the eight races (Jr/Sr/Mid/Open) and in the quad

Arrival Times for Racing Athletes: *if you agreed to bring food, please ensure the food arrives for its deadline too
Sr. Men’s 2x (Max & Kieran) – 7am
Jr. Women’s 4+ (Stephanie, Tristan, Kate, Drew, Hannah) – 8am
Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x (JJ & Cooper) – 9:50am *in time to cheer on the Sr. Men’s 2x race
Sr. Men’s 1x (Luke) – 11am
Sr. Women’s 4+ (Arnaud*, Lauren, Allie, Victoria, Taylor) – 11am *Arnaud will arrive earlier to weigh-in with Mike
Sr. Men’s 4x (Erik *others have already arrived) – 12pm/noon
Sr. Women’s 1x (Madison) – 1pm
Jr. Men’s 2x (Harrison & Lucas) – 1:30pm
***times listed indicate the LATEST time by which you should arrive. Athletes are always welcome to arrive earlier to support and cheer on the other crews***

A reminder that food should be brought to the Parents’ Tent by the time indicated on the sign up sheet here.

Official Race Times:
Sr. Men’s 2x – Heat 5 @9:54am
Jr. Women’s 4+ – Heat 1 @10:03am
Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x – Heat 1 @12:02am
Sr. Men’s 1x – Heat 3 @1:19pm
Sr. Women’s 4+ – Heat 1 @1:33pm
Sr. Men’s 4x – Heat 3 @2:50pm
Sr. Women’s 1x – Heat 2 @3:11pm
Jr. Men’s 2x – Heat 5 @4:42pm

Final Notes: Jackets will be distributed tomorrow at the races. City Champs medals will be awarded at our year-end party (yes, the medals have arrived!), and the 70th Anniversary CSSRA pins will also be distributed at our year-end party to athletes competing at this year’s CSSRAs.

That’s all, folks. See you all tomorrow on the Island.

GOOD LUCK WESTDALE!
Alessandra


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CSSRA Championships – Full Information

Dear Westdale Rowers,

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.

PARENT INFORMATION & FOOD SIGNUP:
Please see an overview of what to expect at CSSRAs by clicking here: CSSRA Champs – Info for Parents & Athletes

*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)

Practice rules & regulations can be found here, but I’ll review them with all crews before the practice: http://www.cssra.ca/#/practice-times-procedures/4564679972

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/

4) Weigh-Ins & Race Procedures:
Weigh-in times for coxswains & lightweights can be found here: http://www.cssra.ca/#/weigh-in-rules/4564679539
Race procedures and course patterns can be found here: http://www.cssra.ca/#/cssra-rules-of-racing/4564680197

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.

See you all on Monday morning,
Alessandra


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Westdale Rower selected to rep Team Canada in CanAmEx 2014

Hello everybody,

I realize that this breaks the promise of my previous post, but an official announcement was given by Rowing Canada today that listed one of our Westdale Rowers, Luke Gadsdon, as part of the Canadian National Team’s CanAmEx crew competing at the 2014 CanAmEx Regatta between July 6th-13th in Lochaber Lake, Nova Scotia, and I wanted to post a notice to give the team’s support (congratulations & good luck, Luke!). CanAmEx brings a contingent of Canadian/American/Mexican junior national crews to compete against one another.

You can find the article with the athlete postings here (scroll down for CanAmEx listings): http://rowingcanada.org/news-events/news/canadas-next-generation-olympians-prepare-compete-world-stage
Curious about the regatta? For general info on the CanAmEx regatta, please click here: http://rowingcanada.org/events/canammex

This is a great reminder of how your training & rowing experience in highschool can act as a stepping-stone to Canada’s Junior National Team & the U23/Senior National Teams over time. Hopefully we’ll have some more Westdale Rowers – both men and women – competing in the upcoming years! This too, could be you!

Cheers,
Alessandra