Lakehead University’s newly-opened campus has hit the ground running, or “rowing” one could say, with its first venture into varsity athletics.

 

The idea of forming a campus Rowing Club was conceived by Barb Pidgen and Tim Lauer, both active members of the Orillia Rowing Club, who approached Lakehead University Director of Athletics Tom Warden. Their plan was to initiate a small rowing program comprised of enthusiastic students willing to undergo a one-month training program with members of the Orillia Rowing Club. It has proved to be effective as the campus Rowing Club was able to enter some of its members into the prestigious Head of the Trent regatta competition, which took place in Peterborough, Ontario, earlier this fall.

 

This, however, did not take place before the Orillia Rowing Club participated in the annual Head of the Welland regatta competition. The ORC sent five crews into the Welland competition and walked away with two gold medals and a silver, thanks to the stellar performances of single sculler Sarah Pidgen, quad members Rylea Cole (a Lakehead student), Kirsten Cameron, Kathy Hunt, and Rhonda Lauer, as well as Masters sculling partners Barb Pidgen and Vera Cameron-van Amelsvoort.

 

Subsequently at Peterborough, two Lakehead students, Rylea Cole, 18, and Samantha Umney Grey, 21, entered the University-Women’s Double race and finished 8th in the 5 km course with a time of 17:20:41. Not bad for women with no prior rowing experience before joining the Club in September 2006!

 

Their highly commendable efforts were reflective of the disciplined effort they put into their training. In the five weeks leading up to the competition, Rylea and Samantha trained for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week in addition to waking up at 5:30 a.m. daily and occasionally falling into freezing cold water. Along the way, they developed strong friendships.

 

From the looks of things, the Lakehead University- Orillia Campus rowing club is definitely off to a brilliant start. Tom Warden hopes the Club is “only the tip of the iceberg” and envisions collaborating extensively with the Orillia campus to introduce more varsity programs. Athletics is an integral part of campus life, he says, and he applauds the efforts of the Orillia campus staff.

 

“It has been a great experience so far,” says Rylea Cole, “and I hope that there is even more interest in years to come.”