August Newsletter

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

Henley August 3 to 9
From August 3-9, 12 GRC crews competed at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines. After a cancelled RowOn Championships in July, due to the wildfire smoke, our crews refocused and posted competitive times in heats with very fast international entries.

Standout performances were from Kira Moor, who advanced to semi-finals in the U23 Women’s Lightweight 1x, and the Senior Men’s Lightweight 4x (Ahmet Gulsaran, Connor Wideman, Jack Raso, Franklin Goodfellow) who finished 3rd overall in a stacked final won by Argentina.

Congratulations to all who raced!

Thank you to the coaches who supported this summer’s competitive athletes: Cedric Pecora, Siobhan Crean, Dave Leger, Brian Sulley and Pearl Schachter.

A special shoutout to Guelph rowers Ceilidh Aho and Kristina Harris who, along with their FISU teammates, won both the Senior Women’s 8+ and Championship Women’s 8+.

The Canadian women’s eight went on to place 4th in a hard-fought FISU final.

Fall University Dates

GRC is preparing to welcome over 40 varsity athletes back to the boathouse for selection camp from August 30 to September 5th! We’re excited to see new and familiar faces back on the lake. Please say hello and introduce yourselves if you see someone you haven’t met before.

2000m erg tests will take place in the boathouse on the morning of Tuesday, September 1 from 5-7am. Start times for men and women’s teams are currently 6am and 6:40am respectively. Thanks for your cooperation — please ask for help if you need assistance getting your boat around the ergs, and give athletes space while they are actively pulling test pieces.

Novice Tryouts will take place at GRC on Saturday, September 12th from 9am-1pm and we are excited to welcome new athletes into the sport!

Moonlight Row 2026

It’s that time again.

Come join us for an evening row under the Sturgeon moon.

We’ll launch at 7:30 pm and row to the dead tree to catch the moon rise.
A campfire and some delicious treats will be waiting when we return. Not keen on rowing at night? Just come and join in the festivities.

Club Fun Regatta

1000m GRC Fun Regatta

July 25th brought clear skies and flat water to the first ever 1000 m GRC Fun Regatta. Heartfelt thank you to Peggy Buchanan for initating this event. Your love of rowing and desire to build lasting relationships between members was the cornerstone of this wonderful day. Shout out to our officials (honest as the day is long, no one accepted bribes), Molly, Jack, Cedric, Sasha, and Mike. We had a total of 18 participants who raced in two singles, seven doubles and four quads.

Best dressed honourable mention went out to Leslie Barker and Karen Eakins for their themed costumes and vintage tunes in the Disco – gold sequence head bands, tanks, and hot pants rivalled the Disco’s natural glitter. There may have been a few lane violations from this crew but how can they not boogie while rowing to “Staying Alive” as they raced down the course.

The big winner of the day — bringing home the hardware in every race — was Olivia Shotyk! Olivia showed that her Gryphon training has held steady on her return to the water this season.

Shout out to our champions:

Single – Oliva Shotyk

Double – Olivia Shotyk and Heather Kooistra

Quad – Olivia Shotyk, Henry Kielar, Leslie Barker and Alex Rederburg

Once we got everyone out of the water from the cool-down swim, we all enjoyed a plentiful post-regatta buffet. Thank you to everyone for providing nourishment and fellowship after the races were complete.

Of course, this year we were spoiled by having the course to keep us in line. Thank you to Pat Weir and all the line crew helpers for getting the course in for our club event.

Special thank you to Leslie Barker for co-planning this event and creating the stunning awards!

We’ll get a “save-the-date” message out as soon as we know the regatta schedule for 2027 so that we can make this an annual event.

Hogtown Heats at the Argonaut Rowing Club

Sunday, August 23

Despite less-than-favourable weather (except by waterfowl standards), our GRC crews made a strong showing at the Argonaut Rowing Club’s Hogtown Heats, a regatta for recreational, novice, U19, and para crews.

We entered five adult crews and one U19 crew. A good (and wet) time was had by all — until the regatta was cancelled due to inclement weather. But that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm! Go Guelph!

Bowing Workshop

We didn’t think we would be able to squeeze this in but Madison has offered to run a Bow Workshop on Sunday Aug 30th at 9:30 am for both Novice and Rec.

This will be a workshop on understanding the role of the bow position, how to support your bow person, as well as what you need to know to safely and confidently bow a boat.

There is a column added to your Novice and Rec sign-up sheets on the August 30 page. I know it is short notice, please register before Thursday Aug 27 evening so we know how many people will be in attendance.

Thank you,

Nancy and Madison

Boat Christening

Boat Christening Sept. 5 @ 8:00 am

The club is hosting a boat christening event for 8 boats that have recently been purchased by the club or have been donated to the club. See the photo below of Jack Ruso in the “Bald Eagle” donated by Eric Johnstone, and Molly Bain in the “Digby” donated by Julie Digby in memory of her husband Graham, a former club member. We hope you can join us for this celebration with treats supplied for the event.

Mind the Gap(s)

Safety Notice: Dock Gaps — Singles & Coaches Docks

There are gaps between sections of the singles and coaches docks wide enough to step through at certain angles. Two members have gone through this season and sustained bruising — thankfully no serious injuries so far, but the risk is real, especially if you’re carrying the added weight of a boat when it happens.

Pat (Site & Boat Director) has marked the edges with hi-vis orange paint as a temporary measure while we work on a permanent fix.

In the meantime, please:

Watch your footing on the singles and coaches docks, particularly near the marked edges
Move carefully when carrying boats or equipment across these sections
Report any new or worsening gaps to Pat or the club directly

We’ll update members once a permanent solution is in place. Thanks for your patience and for looking out for each other.

The Ontario Summer Games Canoe/Kayak and the GRC

Leap of Faith — Ontario Summer Games

Congratulations to the club on hosting the Canoe/Kayak event of the 2026 Summer Games July 31 and August 1. There were 117 participants in this two-day event who would not have been able to compete if we had not hosted. Special thanks to all who volunteered setting up the course, installing it, removing it, preparing the grounds and boathouse, and volunteering for the event as well. It was so interesting to see their sport and they in turn they were impressed with our facilities as well. We hoped you enjoyed the chance to row down a straight course for the two weeks that it was in the water. Thank you All!

A huge shout-out to Pat Weir who took this on with great enthusiasm and a generous welcoming spirit. You give our club such a warm public presence in the community. Thank you, Pat.

Ontario Adventure Rowing

OAR International Rideau Canal TourFrom August 9 to 13, Karen Eakins and Sherri Buchanan joined a group of European scullers for four days on the Rideau Canal, from Lower Beveridges Lock to Lower Brewers Lock. Here’s their report:
The Rideau Canal offers unique features that few other locations can match. Over the course of the trip, we covered more than 90 km (some planned, with a few extra kilometres added by weather and navigation) and passed through 10 locks. Our group came together from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Canada — we arrived as strangers and left as friends.
Home base was Simmons Cottages, a rustic setting that suited the trip perfectly. One evening, our European rowers treated us to a memorable BBQ — a fitting celebration of the shared passion for rowing that brought us together.
We also had the chance to row alongside experienced European rowers, including a former Olympian, and picked up some new techniques we’re looking forward to bringing back to share with the club.Who knew one adventure could open the door to rowing opportunities worldwide?
OAR has a number of tours still available in 2026, check out their website www.adventurerow.ca and go on a tour!

Ontario Adventure Rowing (OAR) is for rowers who want to explore this beautiful province (and beyond) from the water.We offer inland lake and river tours, long distance races – full and half marathons – and promote coastal rowingSign up for the OAR newsletter here.Full season schedule here.

Photo of the Month

Flip Your Boat Day: 90% technique, 10% dignity.
Photo by Henry Kielar. Feet courtesy of Odette Ziezold.

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!