The Queen’s rowing team made history at the Canadian University Rowing Championships in Welland, Ontario last week. The women’s crew prevailed to win the team’s first national title, while the men also had their best performance to date with a second-place finish.
One week after a dominant victory at the OUA regatta, the women won three gold medals and one silver to establish themselves as the top team in Canada. The Gaels edged out the University of Victoria by a single point, despite racing in only five of the six events. They trailed Victoria in the standings heading into the final race and needed a Queen’s win, combined with no better than a fourth-place showing from Victoria, in order to emerge triumphant.
The lightweight four crew of Kristine Matusiak, Nicole Bobbette, Charly Thivierge-Lortie, Rebecca McWatters and coxswain Karley Bureau did their part, quickly building an unassailable lead. With victory assured, the team was able to watch the drama unfold on the water behind them.
Victoria held on to second place initially but began to fade at the halfway mark. Sara Richardson, already a gold medalist with Katya Herman in the lightweight pair, said she watched the action from the bank of the canal.
“Brock started to make a move and pushed up the rest of the field. Vic just crumbled behind them,” she said.
Ultimately, Queen’s won the race with Victoria finishing in fifth.
“It was pretty exciting to watch that race and realize that we’d won the banner,” Richardson said.
Meanwhile, the men’s team had another strong regatta, finishing second to the University of Western Ontario.
Head coach John Armitage said the team was proud of the result. He said the gold-medal heavyweight pair of Mike Wilkinson and Andrew Rastapkevivius was the highlight of the competition for the men.
It was the latest in a series of impressive results for Wilkinson, who was named Canada’s Oarsman of the Year, sharing the honour with Western’s Tim Colson.
Wilkinson said the award was unexpected.
“I was pretty surprised, to be honest. Rowing’s a team sport and everything I’ve done, I was helped by other people,” he said.
Queen’s rower Connie Dayboll was runner-up for the women’s award.
Armitage said the accomplishments are especially remarkable given the high level of competition in university rowing. Western is the national training centre for the Canadian heavyweight women’s team, while Victoria is the designated base for the national lightweight women’s and men’s programs.
“It is not an even playing field,” Armitage said. “But that raises the bar higher and forces the rest of us to try and jump over it.
“We’re the number one rowing program in Canada.” Armitage was recognized for his team’s success following the regatta. winning the Women’s Coach of the Year award and finishing second in the men’s category. Richardson said Armitage was a
deserving recipient.
“He’s the man behind everything,” she said. “He’s the ultimate advocate for athletes. He’s always working and thinking about how we can make
ourselves better.”
As a volunteer coach Armitage is an exception within university rowing, as most competitive programs have full-time coaches.
“Queen’s coaches coach for the love of the sport. As a volunteer, it’s very rewarding,” he said. “We’re probably an aberration to the trend. CIS champions aren’t doing it with part-time coaches.”
National championship in hand, the rowing team is already looking forward to next season.
Armitage said the team is already looking forward to another year on the water.
“Today is the first day of our next season.”
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