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Celebrating our 2024 Rowing BC Annual Award Recipients
On the evening of Wednesday, November 13th, members of the BC rowing community gathered together virtually for the 2024 Rowing BC Annual General Meeting, followed by presentations for this year’s Annual Award recipients.
Rowing BC offers awards in five categories each year:
- Umpire of the Year
- Club Coach of the Year
- Athlete of the Year
- Performance Coach of the Year
- Outstanding Volunteer(s) of the Year
These awards exist to ensure that members of the BC rowing community are recognized annually for what they give to the sport and/or what they have recently accomplished.
Umpire of the Year
The 2024 Rowing BC Umpire of the Year Award goes to Tim Henderson.
Tim has been involved in the umpire community, and leading, in many ways. According to another member of the Rowing BC Umpire Committee, Tim has done a huge amount of work as the chair of the UC: organizing meetings, starting the leadership forum (which includes the UC, umpire clinicians, and chief umpires), leading initiatives to benefit the community, and so much more. Through this work, the perspective that people have about umpires is actively being changed. Clear communication, respectful environments, and clear expectations are being prioritized. And, Tim puts these ideas into action at the many regattas where he acts as a jury member or chief umpire.
Congratulations, Tim!
Club Coach of the Year
The 2024 Rowing BC Club Coach of the Year goes to Nadine Mross of the Fort Langley Youth Rowing Society.
Nadine has been the Head Coach for the Fort Langley Youth Rowing Society consistently since 2011. Comments in the nominations for Nadine highlighted her strength in celebrating and respecting everyone on the team, and prioritizing having a positive sport experience over winning. That’s not to say that improvement and performance aren’t also a focus – she is determined and pushes her athletes to be the best version of themselves both on and off the water. In all of her years of involvement at the Fort Langley Youth Rowing Society, Nadine has consistently gone above and beyond in how she supports the club, and supports the individual athletes to reach their personal goals and potential.
Congratulations, Nadine!
Athlete of the Year
The 2024 Rowing BC Athlete of the Year Award goes to Giancarlo DiPompeo.
Over the past year this University of Victoria athlete had many accomplishments. This Summer he represented Canada, winning a silver medal in the Lightweight Men’s 1x at the FISU event in Rotterdam. He then relocated to St. Catharines to row with his partner in the U23 Lightweight Men’s 2x at the U23 Super Worlds held in St. Catharines in August. The crew raced from in front in the final and narrowly faded to finish 4th just missing the podium. While representing Rowing BC, Giancarlo had an impressive performance at the 2024 National Rowing Championships in Welland this Fall, capturing Gold in the U23 Men’s 1x and Silver in the Open Men’s 1x. He was also co-Captain of the Vikes team, securing valuable team points with Silver in the Lightweight Men’s 1x and Bronze in both the Lightweight Men’s 4+ and Lightweight Men’s 2x at the Canadian University Rowing Championships.
Congratulations, Giancarlo!
Performance Coach of the Year
The 2024 Rowing BC Performance Coach of the Year goes to Miki Chantler from the Victoria City Rowing Club.
Miki Chantler had an outstanding Spring season as lead coach of the U19 Women’s program at VCRC. The season culminated with the win in the Junior Women’s 8+ Event at the prestigious Opening Day Regatta in Seattle. Miki was integrally involved with Rowing BC Performance Camps this year, directing project crews to Rowing Canada Junior National Team Trials. At this event her crews had selection worthy performances in the Women’s 4+ and Women’s 2-. As a result, Miki was named as Coach of the U19 Women’s 4+, representing Canada at the Junior World Championships in St. Catharines. During this time, Miki also completed her Rowing Canada Performance Coach Certification. Somehow Miki also found time to act as the Head Coach for the Glenlyon Norfolk School program in the Fall, introducing the next wave of development athletes to rowing.
Congratulations, Miki!
Outstanding Volunteer(s) of the Year
In the category of Outstanding Volunteer(s) of the Year, Rowing BC accepts nominations from anyone in the rowing community. We know that the volunteers who tirelessly put in time behind the scenes to make clubs and events run smoothly are integral to our sport, and that not all local rowing organizations have an awards opportunity in which to pause and recognize these key individuals. This year, 13 Outstanding Volunteers have been selected to receive recognition through the 2024 Rowing BC Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award.
- Tim Britton-Foster – Maple Bay Rowing Club
- Shelley Cleveland – Cascadia Regatta Association
- Sue Danne – Thunder Rowing
- Peter Gleadow – Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
- Helen Healey – Delta Deas Rowing Club & Nicomekl Rowing Club
- Corinne Kepper – St. George’s School Rowing
- Mike Lakin – Salt Spring Island Rowing Club
- Jen Lamont – St. George’s School Rowing
- Andrea Lynch – Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
- Don Marshall – False Creek Rowing Club
- Mike Rascher – Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
- Audrey Sjoholm – St. George’s School Rowing
- Kim Willey – Greater Victoria Youth Rowing Society (Lambrick School)
Each of these individuals have given substantially of their time, in most cases over many years, to the needs of their local and the provincial rowing community. They have been involved as regatta chairs, event volunteers, Board members, coaches, equipment repair people, and mentors, in addition to other roles. Many of the nominations included the sentiment that these are the type of people every club wishes to have!
Congratulations to all of the 2024 Rowing BC Annual Award Recipients!
See past recipients of Rowing BC’s Annual Awards (and access additional external award opportunities) HERE.
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