January 2025 Junior Performance Camp Summary

January 2025 Junior Performance Camp Summary

This past weekend, Rowing BC hosted the third Junior Performance Camp of the 2024/2025 series at the BC NextGen Performance Centre (BCNGPC) in Victoria. Co-hosted with the Victoria City Rowing Club, the event brought together 52 athletes and 9 coaches from 11 different programs. The camp kicked off on Friday afternoon at Elk Lake, marking the start of an expanded format for this series.

The Rowing BC Junior Performance Camps are designed for performance-focused athletes in the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Train to Compete stage. These camps provide opportunities for BC’s top Junior Athletes to train alongside some of the province’s brightest emerging talents. Many of these athletes have aspirations to compete at the highest levels, including the BC Championships, Junior National Trials, Continental Challenge Cup, and Junior World Championships.

On Friday, athletes participated in an introductory session on the water, where crews were mixed to create new and exciting combinations. Following the row, the group completed Rowing BC’s standardized field test on the C2 ergometer, which included a 3 x 3-stroke max watts test, followed by a 1000m row at rate 24 to assess both peak power and aerobic endurance.

Saturday featured three water sessions, with crews continuously switching combinations to focus on technical themes outlined by Rowing BC’s Director of Performance. During lunch, Nicole Jenecik from the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific gave a brief presentation on the CSIP athlete support program, outlining its benefits and onboarding process for eligible athletes.

Sunday’s focus shifted to race-day preparation. The first session served as a pre-race warm-up, where crews increased their rate and built speed in preparation for the camp’s final event: the 2 x 1500m “handicap” race. Crews were grouped by speed to create four “handicap” races, with staggered starts and the goal of racing to the finish line in the final 500 meters. Results were then compared with Rowing Canada’s Gold Medal standards to assess individual performances.

The Men’s Sweep group was led by Marc Addison from Vancouver College, who is currently working towards his Performance Coach certification. Marc hopes to co-host with Rowing BC for the RCA Junior Men’s 8+ this summer. Over the weekend, a competitive environment was created with two 8+ crews racing side by side, and frequent lineup switches allowed coaches to assess individual performances in preparation for the final timed row.

BC’s top Men’s and Women’s sculling athletes  participated in five sessions, rowing in a variety of crew combinations in both 2x’s and 4x’s. This group included many U17 athletes with a few more years of development at the provincial level.

The Women’s Sweep group, which included several athletes returning from the 2024 Junior National Team projects. Coaches Terry Paul and Jane Gumley, from the Vikes Women’s program, worked with the group starting with sessions in the 8+ and breaking down into smaller boat combinations including a coxed 4 and 2-.

The camp also provided a development opportunity for emerging coaches. Four coaches received honoraria to help cover their travel and participation, and will also earn professional development points for their NCCP certification. These coaches were mentored throughout the weekend by senior coaches Jane Gumley, Lisa Tschannen and Rowing BC’s Director of Performance, Terry Paul.

The coaches selected for this development opportunity included Steven Randall (UVic), Emilia Maras-Hilling (Nanaimo), Sarah Hagkull (St. Michael’s University School) and Marc Addison (Vancouver College). This initiative was managed by Lisa Tschannen, Rowing BC’s Manager of Education, Innovation, and Inclusion.

The next Rowing BC Performance Camp will take place March 20-23, 2025 in Victoria. Find out more about Rowing BC’s support to the Performance pathway HERE.

Note for Performance Athletes and Coaches: RCA has released their 2025 Selection Documents HERE.