Rowing Canada's new VP of High Performance, a volunteer board position, is Phil Monckton of Toronto. The VP of High Performance oversees Canada's National Rowing Team programs and Monckton replaces Toronto lawyer Bill Donegan, who decided not run for another term. "It is with great pleasure that I welcome Phil Monckton to the role of Vice President of High Performance with Rowing Canada Aviron," said RCA's president John Carmichael. "Phil brings a fresh perspective on the right structure required to win medals at Olympic Games and World Championships, and, as a former Olympian, he knows the commitment and leadership required to win in world competition."
The Canadian senior and development teams have had much success at the World level in the past few years, but picked up only one medal at the 2004 Olympics. Monckton's first challenge, however, is to hire a High Performance Director, a void left after head coach Brian Richardson joined the Canadian Olympic Committee this fall. "The National Rowing Team programs appear to be very sound. My immediate challenge is to recruit and hire a High Performance Director who can build on our current successes and keep the program moving ahead," said Monckton. "In order to keep our program improving, we need to further develop our coaching staff and increase the pool of top-level athletes. I think that it is a very exciting time to be involved in amateur sports in Canada, especially the sport of rowing." Monckton is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, and while there he competed in football, basketball and rowing. He rowed on the National Team from 1974 to 1984 winning a gold at the 1975 Pan American Games in the coxed four, a silver medal in the single at the 1979 Pan Ams and an Olympic bronze medal at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles in the quad. Monckton, who was a also rowing coach, still rows - recently winning a gold in the masters eight at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston. He works for Scepter Corporation, a privately held Canadian plastics processor, and is married with three children.