Westdale Rowing Community

Information for the Westdale Rowing Community

Tag Archives: Hamilton


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Tomorrow’s (Monday) Mac 2×4 Training – IMPORTANT

Dear Westdale Rowers,

Congratulations on a day well raced at yesterday’s Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships. We had a total of 7 “Top Ten” finishers that took home shirts (Lauren, Sadie, Breanne, Harrison, Lucas, Erik, Luke), and a gold medal finish in the Sr. Men’s category (Luke). More importantly, a large number of athletes achieved personal bests, seasonal bests, or managed to match their personal bests within a second. These are all great accomplishments, and you should be proud of what you accomplished – both individually AND as a team.

I was proud to see that Westdale Rowers respected the racing etiquette (remaining seated on the erg until all other racers have finished) and were good team players, congratulating competitors from other teams. This is how we build a strong team presence at regattas – it’s how we get recognized by other schools and competitors, not only as a strong team but as a team that demonstrates good sportsmanship.

Important for Tomorrow’s (Monday’s) Practice:
1) ARRIVE EARLY – by 6:25am at the latest – WITH YOUR PERMISSION FORM SIGNED BY A PARENT
2) At least ONE member from each team should bring a pair of cardboard footstraps (coordinate this with your teammates)
3) Wear your unisuit or Westdale Athletics clothing with the school’s colours
4) Submit your signed permission form to Alessandra immediately upon arrival
5) Set up the ergs in the middle gym, as well as the mats, then begin your warmup (15 laps of the gym/25 squats/dynamic stretching)

For a permission form, please download, print & have your parent(s)/guardian(s) sign this form: Consent To The Release of Personal Information – Mac 2×4 (Cable 14)

We will be training in our Mac 2×4 Teams. Be sure to attend practice – your team is counting on you. Guest coaches & varsity rowers from McMaster will be joining us to lead the practice. Cable 14 will also be filming part of our practice for a local news promotional segment on the upcoming Mac 2×4 race.

If your parents have any questions or concerns about the permission form, please have them contact me (Alessandra). We need to ensure that all athletes attending Monday’s practice (which includes anyone racing at the Mac 2×4) submit their signed permission forms.

See you all bright & early,
Alessandra


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Parents – Informed Consent to Release of Information (IMPORTANT FOR MONDAY)

Dear Parents,

This Monday, March 2nd, we have guest coaches from McMaster University visiting to train the Westdale Rowing Team on how to effectively race at the Mac 2×4. As part of this practice, we have just received news that Cable 14 (a local news station) has requested to film a promotional segment for the McMaster (Mac) 2×4 event which would involve filming a short clip of the Westdale Rowing Team as they train with the McMaster University coaches at practice this Monday, March 2nd.

Due to the short notice, we have been working hard to provide information as soon as possible to parents and athletes. Most importantly: Cable 14 and the HWDSB require that parents of athletes under the age of 18 must sign a “Consent to the Release of Personal Information” form if your athlete is allowed to be included in the local news segment. In order for your athlete to be filmed by Cable 14, we need your explicit, active consent and permission to the release of personal information (personal information here is referring to the photographs/videos/broadcasts taken by Cable 14 during Monday morning’s practice).

You can download, print, and sign the permission form here: Consent To The Release of Personal Information – Mac 2×4 (Cable 14)

Athletes must bring this consent form with them to practice on Monday if they are to be included in the Cable 14 news segment. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me (Alessandra) directly via email or by phone.

A friendly reminder that all athletes are expected to arrive earlier (by 6:25am) on Monday, March 2nd, so that we can set up the ergs before the McMaster coaches & Cable 14 arrive. We also ask that athletes wear their Westdale unisuits (or Westdale athletics clothing) & have at least one member from their 2×4 team to bring in a piece of cardboard for their removeable footstrap.

Thanks for your understanding,
Alessandra


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Summer Rowing Information

Hello athletes!

Here’s the information you’ve all been waiting for: SUMMER ROWING INFO! 🙂

1) The main blog you’ll need to check is this one: http://leandermanager.wordpress.com/

2) The summer rowing information for Jr. Men (this includes ALL highschool aged athletes) can be found here: http://leandermanager.wordpress.com/lbc-junior-men/

…you will be coached by the very lovely & talented Jess Bill, who is currently the St. Mary’s Head Coach. She’s a fantastic coach & will no doubt be a lot of fun to work with. She’ll also be assisted by Ryan Walters (current StM assistant coach) and two others (Chris Jacques & Alec Mannarino)

3) The summer rowing information for the Jr. Women (including ALL highschool aged athletes) can be found here: http://leandermanager.wordpress.com/leander-boat-club-and-mcmaster-university-rowing-training-blog/

…don’t be fooled by the link’s URL title, it’s definitely the information you need for the Jr. Women. Craig Pollock will be the main coach, and Peter DeNew will be assisting. I will also be occassionally assisting during the month of June (perhaps for just the women, maybe for both groups – not sure yet).

4) The Summer Regatta Schedule can be found here: https://leandermanager.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/summer-sched.pdf

…try to make sure you’re available for those dates, as they’re your racing dates!

5) “But I go to camp” – don’t worry, rowing ENDS in August, so you could technically do both! Unless you’re a camp counsellor & plan on working the whole summer, in which case you might be out of luck. That said, check out the schedule to see if it works – you might be able to swing both!

6) When does it start? – Steffan has mentioned that the official start-date will be June 16th, but there may be some optional practices in the meantime. Simply check the blog (posted above) to stay updated. All of the Summer Rowing coaches understand that you’re going through exams & that exams will be your top priority for a while, but you should still indicate your interest to them so that they’re aware you’re keen to join. Payment for rowing fees/dues will be determined by the cost of a “Highschool Upgrade” (check with Steffan for full pricing details – but there’s a serious discount because you’ve already rowed highschool).

Whatever you choose to do, I hope you all have an amazing summer! 🙂

Cheers,
Alessandra

PS – Thank you to everyone who came to rig & wash boats this afternoon, it was a huge help! For those of you that missed it, I’m afraid to say you missed out on some pretty awesome popsicle treats…


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City Champs – Event Times & Boat Listings

Hi Westdale Rowers & Parents,

Following with Mike’s post below with respect to arrival times (arrive at 6am), weigh-ins (at 6am), and racing start times (first event begins at 8:30am), I’ve included a link to the PDF with event times & have listed out the Men’s & Sr. Women’s crews that will be racing (Mike has already spoken with his crews/the JRs).

Event List & Start Times: LBC City Champs Draw (includes boat listings, though some are being revised by the LBC Manager)

Event Lists (Men’s Team & Sr. Women):
***PLEASE NOTE: Mike’s already spoken to his crews, so this is just a summary of the crews I’ve entered because I’ve been away sick & haven’t had a chance to communicate the full listings:

Event #1b) Jr. Men’s 66kg 4+: Tristan W. (cox), Will S. (4), Talal A. (3), Tanner H. (2), Jake C. (1) (in Chester Waxman)
Event #3a) Sr. Men’s OPEN 2x: Bogdan C. (stroke), Nimeash D. (bow) (in Cherwinski)
Event #3c) Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x: Lucas A. (stroke), Philippe B. (bow) (in Justice)
Event #4) Sr. Women’s OPEN 4x: Haley H. (4), Breanne H. (3), Brenna L. (2), Kiija G. (1) (in Ad Astra)
Event #8a) Sr. Men’s OPEN 4+: Will S. (cox), Bogdan C. (4), Toby M. (3), Evan W. (2), Nimeash D. (1) (in Chester Waxman)
Event #8b) Sr. Men’s OPEN 4+: Kiri (cox), Luke G. (4), Max M. (3), Erik H. (2), Lucas A. (1) (in Csima)
Event #9a) Sr. Women’s OPEN 8+: Kiri (cox), Haley H. (8), Breanne H. (7), Brenna L. (6), Kiija G. (5), Madison V. (4), Jocelyn M. OR Louise M. (depending on Jocelyn’s back) (3), Katie M. (2), Katie Y. (1)
Event #10) Sr. Men’s OPEN 1x: Luke G. (in Eben 1x)
Event #11) Sr. Women’s 63kg & OPEN 1x: Madison V. (OPEN – Vamosi 1x), Jocelyn M. (63kg – Monaco 1x)
Event #14a) Sr. Women’s OPEN 2x: Breanne (2) & Haley (1) (in Justice), EITHER Brenna (2) & Kiija (1) OR Jocelyn (2) & Madison (1) (in Chuks) ***Steffan was unable to give us three 2x racing spots (we’ve been limited to two)
Event #17) Jr. Men’s OPEN 2x: Erik H. (2), Max M. (1) (in Chuks)
Event #20) Sr. Men’s OPEN 8+: Kiri (cox), Luke G. (8), Max M. (7), Erik H. (6), Lucas A. (5), Toby M. (4), Bogdan C. (3), Nimeash D. (2), Philippe B. (1)

Coxing: As it currently stands, Jake C. will be coxing a Jr. Women’s 4+ & Jr. 63kg 4+. Will S. will be coxing a Jr. Women’s 8+ & a Jr. Women’s 4+. Tristan W. will be coxing the flyweight 4+, as well as her regular boats (indicated by Mike). Kiri will be coxing the Sr. Women’s 8+, Sr. Men’s 8+, and Sr. Men’s 4+ (all open categories).

Due to the high number of races & the limit of three races per athlete (and coxswain), we are requiring all coxing help available in order to ensure everyone can race their events.

Again, a friendly reminder that everyone must arrive for 6am at LBC in order to weigh-in, check-in, and row the boats over to the Bayfront Park beach.

Thanks,
Alessandra