June Newsletter

Help Improve our Social Media Presence
High School Season Wrap-Up
Warm Water Rules
Guelph Growing Club
Introducing our Next Three New Summer Coaches
Learn To Row Program
Fun Club Regatta — We Need Your Input
GRC Plays Host to the 2026 Ontario Summer Games
Leaky Launches No More!
Drone Day
OAR Ontario Adventure Rowing 2026 Schedule

Improve our Social Status

We’re building our social media presence and we need your help!

Follow us, like our pages, and share them with anyone you think would enjoy being part of the GRC community on Instagram and Facebook. Every follow and share helps us grow — and we have some great content coming your way.

Do you have a favourite photo from the boathouse? Whether it’s a stunning sunrise, your crew out on the water, or a memorable moment with teammates, we want to see the photos that capture what the GRC means to you.

Share your favourite GRC photo to your story or feed on Instagram and tag @GuelphRowingClub — multiple posts are welcome!

Get creative, dig through your camera roll, and help us showcase the best moments from our rowing community.

We can’t wait to see our club from every perspective!

High School Season Wrap Up

The GRC High School Rowing Program has wrapped up an incredible year, capping it off at the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association (CSSRA) Championships this past weekend in St. Catharines.

This program is no small commitment. It started in the fall with Learn to Row and Head Racing, powered through winter erg training, and hit the cold early morning waters as soon as the docks were in this April — and this group showed up for every bit of it. Over the course of the past year, the team competed at 9 events: the Fall 5 Bridges Head Race, Head of the Trent, Martha Coffee Sprints, Hammer the Erg, the Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships, the Mother’s Day Regatta, South Niagara Invitational, WOSSR, and CSSRAs.

This year’s athletes: Aariz Noor-Wang, Abby Pastorius, Emmett Meyer, Erum Khan, Eva Palis, Gandy Karthik, Gavin Currie, Jack Raso, Jackson Reginato, Keira Meehan, Massimo Miners, Molly Bain, Peter McMorrow, Sasha Maksym, Siri Borden, and Will Shepherd.

Season Highlights

Siri Borden took first place in the Sr 135lb W category at the Winter Indoor Erg Championship.

Jack Raso won the Junior Men Single at the Mothers Day Regatta — by a single second.

Erum Khan, Molly Bain, Sasha Maksym, and Siri Borden earned bronze in the Senior Women Quad at the Mothers Day Regatta.

At CSSRAs, Jack Raso topped his heat in the Junior Men Single, finishing 6th of 20 overall. Erum Khan and Siri Borden placed 2nd in their Senior Women Double heat. And Aariz Noor-Wang and Peter McMorrow earned their spot in the Junior Men Double final, finishing 6th of 16 entries overall.

A huge thank you to coaches Andrew Borden, Jack Wilhelm, Dean Raso, and Joanne O’Meara. From the first erg session to the final finish line, your dedication made this season possible.

Warm Water Rules

Warm Water Rules Are Now In Effect

As of May 25, the lake’s temperature has risen to 17°C — we are now in Warm Water Rules.

A few important reminders as we enjoy this milestone:

The middle of the lake is likely still quite cold, so please exercise caution and take appropriate safety precautions.
For our early morning rowers, the air temperature is still chilly — some mornings dipping below 5°C — so make sure you’re dressed in layers and ready for it.
As always, please ensure you bring enough PFDs for all rowers in the crew, a fully stocked safety kit, and sign in and out of the logbook.
If you’re heading out without a coach boat, you must have a PFD and bailer/safety kit in the boat with you. We recommend you bring your mobile in a waterproof pouch as an added precaution.

Here’s to a fantastic 2026 season on the water.

Guelph Growing Club

A different kind of gold medal performance this season — Peggy Buchanan has put serious work into the club, creating beautiful gardens around the grounds and they’re paying off this spring. Thank you, Peggy.

Summer Coaching Team

Summer Coaches 2026

Last month we introduced the first members of our 2026 summer coaching team — we’re thrilled to now welcome the rest!

Starting June 26 are:

Sasha Maksym brings three years of Jr. Gryphons coaching experience. Molly Bain returns for her second year, having come up through the Jr. Gryphons program herself. Jack Raso joins as a first-year coach. All three demonstrated their competitive form at the Mother’s Day Regatta this spring — Jack earning first place in the Junior Men Single, and Sasha and Molly contributing to a third-place finish in the Senior Women Quadruple Sculls.

Together with Madison Tindall, Kira Moor, and Cedric Pecora, your 2026 summer coaching crew is now complete. We can’t wait to get on the water with you!

Learn to Row

The Learn to Row program is officially underway! Sessions began June 1st, and our courses filled up so quickly that we added another session. That added session filled enough to put a coxed four on the water. We now have seven active sessions running with a great group of new rowers. It’s a busy and exciting start to the season. Thanks to our program lead Jessica Wilson-Sterling, volunteers Nancy Kielar, Henry Kielar, Joel Wilson, Mike Atkinson, Pat Weir, Joanne Ryks, Sasha Maksym, Molly Bain and Jack Raso, as well as our three summer coaches Madison Tindall, Kira Moor and Cedric Pecora, for supporting this very important program.

Looking ahead, our annual Learn to Row Regatta takes place Saturday, July 4th from 8am to 1pm — and we’ll need volunteers to help make the day run smoothly. If you’re available and want to cheer on our newest athletes, please reach out to Jessica at ltr@guelphrowing.ca.

Fun Regatta – Input Please!

Fun Regatta — We Need Your Input!

We have an idea — a fun GRC regatta for Rec, Masters, and possibly Novice members, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th. Racing 1000m on home water, with some kind of social to follow.

For this to happen, we need enough members interested in racing, plus a working group to plan the event and volunteers for marshalling and dock control. The good news — the course should already be in, as we’re hosting the Ontario Summer Games Kayaking event that weekend.

Interested? Please take a few minutes to fill out our Google Form by June 20th so we can gauge support and get planning.

Fill out the form here

Ontario Summer Games come to Guelph Lake

Ontario Summer Games – We Need Your Help!

The 2026 Ontario Summer Games are coming to Waterloo Region from July 30 to August 2, bringing together up to 4,000 young athletes aged 12 to 18 across 24 sports and the Guelph Rowing Club is right in the middle of it!

We’re hosting the Canoe/Kayak events on our own rowing course, which is exciting news for the club and the community. To make it happen, we’ll need volunteers for the following:

Buoy lines — installation two weeks before the event and removal the week after
Event days — Saturday August 1 (9am–1pm) and Sunday August 2, including boat drivers

Races will run at 1000m, 500m, and 200m distances.

If you’d like to help, contact Pat Weir at siteandboat@guelphrowing.ca or 519-822-2411. A sign-up sheet will also be posted on the bulletin board at the boathouse.

The Pontoon Boat Lives

Our trusty pontoon boat has been on life support for a while — and thanks to Pat, it’s back in action just in time. Fresh from the repair shop, it’s ready to do what only it can do: get the five-lane buoy course in the water for the Ontario Summer Games.

Course installation begins July 17th. Each line takes about 90 minutes to put in, and we’d love your company — it’s a great way to log your volunteer hours. Sign up at the login book.

Experience Summer

Spread the Word — Jr. Gryphons Still Has Availability!

Do you know a young person who could use some fresh air, real coaching, and a reason to put the phone down this summer? Tell them and their parents about the Jr. Gryphons Learn-to-Row program at Guelph Lake and help us fill those boats!

For ages 14–17, the afternoon program runs 3 days a week over 2 weeks. For ages 11–14, morning camps run 5 days for one week.

All programs are led by qualified coaches trained in first aid and Learn-to-Row coaching, with an emphasis on physical activity, fun, and water safety. And it doesn’t have to end there — graduates can roll straight into the Skills Development program for the rest of the summer, hitting the water 3 days a week to keep building on what they’ve learned.

Spots are still available. Share the Instagram post with a family who might be interested, or send them directly to our registration page.

Share the Instagram post · Registration and details

Madison Fixes the Leaky Launch

Meet the coach boat, freshly patched with Flex Paste.

No more water leaks! What an improvement!

A big thank you to our lead summer coach, Madison, for taking on this project.

Drone On!

Club Photography & Drone Videography — June 27 — Weather Permitting

We are thrilled to have club friend Rob Cooper returning to GRC to capture the club on video. Rob generously gave his time in May for an early morning shoot of our senior competitive program, and we are grateful for those images.

He’ll be back on Saturday, June 27 — weather permitting — starting at 7:00 am and wrapping up around 9:30.

We want to make this count. The more rowers on the water that morning, the better — this is a chance to show the club as the vibrant, active community it is. Whether you’re heading out for a regular row or can make a special trip down, please join us, and wear your GRC swag!

Mark June 27 in your calendar, set your alarm, and let’s put on a good show.

Thank you, Rob — we’re lucky to have you.