VICTORIA, BC - Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA), Rowing BC and Canadian Sport Centre Pacific (CSC Pacific) have joined forces to establish the province's first High Performance Partnership for Rowing. BC's next generation of Olympians and Paralympians will soon benefit from a new network of training centres for national and developmental level rowers in Burnaby, Richmond and Victoria, and tailored programming delivered by five high performance coaches. John Wetzstein former Saskatchewan Rowing Association head coach, will lead a coaching team that includes Olympic medallists Barney Williams and Ben Rutledge, former Olympic and seasonal National Team coach Patrick Newman and Martin George, adaptive rowing specialist.
"The infusion of five exceptional coaches to work with new and developing athletes is a significant gain for rowing in the province of British Columbia," said Peter Cookson, RCA High Performance Director.
The network of training centres will target athletes from the Train to Train through to the Train to Win levels in Canadian Sport for Life's Long Term Athlete Development Model.
Rowing Canada Aviron is currently in discussions with Burnaby Lake Rowing Club to bring BC's first National Development Centre (NDC) to the heart of Burnaby. This centre will be led by NDC Lead Coach John Wetzstein. The NDC will not only be home to a centralized training group, but also host training camps and regattas.
"Rowing Canada is very excited to be working with the Burnaby Lake Rowing Club on this project," said Cookson. "Burnaby Lake has a long tradition of supporting high performance, and with the Burnaby Lake Rejuvenation Project coming to an end we expect it will once again become a premier location for rowing in Canada."
The Talent Development Centres will be located in Richmond and Victoria thanks to partnerships forged with the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria respectively. Ben Rutledge, 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist, will lead the Richmond-based Talent Development program and work as Rowing BC's Provincial Coach. In Victoria, 2004 Olympic Silver Medallist Barney Williams will lead the men's program while the women's program will be led by Patrick Newman at the Victoria-based Talent Development Centre.
"This is a great opportunity for BC rowers," said Eron Main, Executive Director of Rowing BC. "We are lucky to have such exceptional coaches and Olympians joining our programs and working to develop the next generation of high performance rowers."
Adaptive rowing continues to grow in popularity, having debuted as an official Paralympic event at the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2010, Canada won its first ever gold medal in adaptive in the four with cox at the 2010 World Rowing Championships. The Performance Partnership for Rowing is proud to have secured the coaching services of Martin George to lead adaptive rowing's talent development and recruitment within the province of BC.
All three centres will be supported by CSC Pacific's team of sport performance experts, enhancing the athletes' daily training environment with targeted service according to their yearly training plans in the areas of physiology, nutrition, sport psychology and strength & conditioning.
"The enhanced service, coaching and support made available to BC's rowers through this partnership targets a gap in the Canadian sport system in terms of talent identification and athlete retention," added Wendy Pattenden, CSC Pacific Chief Executive Officer. "We are working to realize Own the Podium's vision of enhanced support for developmental athletes through the Canadian Sport Institute model, and the Rowing Performance Partnership is an excellent first step."
Rowing is leading the way in BC, recognizing this partnership leverages resources and builds a common vision for the development of athletes from grassroots to podium. This national-provincial partnership is the first of six Canadian Sport Institute programs set to launch in BC in 2011, as Canada moves toward a more robust support system for its developing athletes.
The BC Performance Partnership for Rowing was made possible thanks to funds invested by Sport Canada, Own the Podium, the Province of British Columbia, the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.