This past weekend, the McGill rowing team competed at the Ontario University Association Championships. Despite a rocky season, the team performed well at the regatta and six McGill boats made it to the OUA finals.
The women’s lightweight four was McGill’s only boat to qualify for the Canadian Championships. Their impressive third place finish earned them a spot at the CIS final. They will be travelling to Victoria, British Columbia, next week looking to finish the season with a strong performance.
The men’s boats finished with impressive third, third, fifth, sixth and eighth place showings, while only the women’s lightweight four made the finals.
The regatta normally takes place on Saturday, but due to some horrific weather, many of the races were postponed until Sunday. For McGill, the boats that had to race on Saturday were at a severe disadvantage.
“[T]he heavyweight eight boat did not do so well,” said rower Jenny Jones. “We were rowing through white caps and our boat was full of water.”
Team member Madison Leia echoed Jones’s frustration with the poor weather.
“I am disappointed with our race,” she said. “Not because we raced poorly but the weather conditions did not allow us to show the improvements we have made throughout the season.”
The McGill women’s heavyweight eight also struggled with weight restrictions and inexperience throughout the year. They saw this season as a chance to develop into a potentially powerful boat in the future.
“Many of us ‘heavyweights’ have not achieved the recommended weight of 160 lbs.” Leia said. “Five out of the eight women in our boat were novices last year, and it takes two to three years to become a developed rower. We are also racing against girls 20 to 50 pounds heavier than us. However, I think we have made a solid foundation to be a competitive team next year.”
Prior to the OUA’s, the season had not gone particularly well for McGill. Early in the year, only two teams finished with a medal at the Brock Invitational. But this weekend, the team showed how much they had improved in two months thanks to their daily 5 a.m. practices and dryland training.
“Everyone worked really hard with the coaches and improved a lot in the short season,” said coxswain Ronald Yeung. “We would see improvements from regatta to regatta.”
“Our boat rowed a great race, the best we’ve done this year,” Evan Kelso added. “This year was very much a developmental year—next year should be super competitive for McGill. The lightweights have had a stellar year, doing better than any previous season.”
