In the crisp chill fall under clear skies, the Carleton Ravens rowing squad took to the water last weekend in their second regatta of the season — the Head of Rideau at Mooney’s Bay — bringing home a haul of medals.
The novice men’s four and eights crew, along with the varsity women’s boat, all captured gold as part of a strong showing.
This Carleton team has seen its fair share of fluctuations throughout this season so far, and years past.
From 5 a.m. practices to icy cold currents, no one has been more present for the roster’s revolving door than assistant coach Ed Fournier, who has been coaching the Ravens for 35 years.
“It’s had its ups and downs in terms of the size of the teams,” said Fournier, “That’s just the ebbs and flows of people graduating, and whatnot. So, for example, three or four years ago, the women’s team was one athlete.
“Now we’re back up to 17, 18, which is a good size.”
Two years ago, the men’s team had around 18 athletes but dropped to eight members this year.
“I expect that to go back up,” Fournier said. “It’s a cyclical challenge for us at Carleton to keep up in terms of recruiting.”
Fournier started his rowing career at McGill University in 1988, before moving to Ottawa and competing — then coaching — for the Ottawa Rowing Club.
He joined Carleton’s coaching staff in 2011 when his oldest son, Matthew, started rowing for the university.
Long after his son stopped competing, Fournier continues to guide incoming athletes.
The prime destinations for rowers recruited out of high school are the powerhouses of Ontario university competition: Brock, Western, and Queen’s.
Carleton, however, keeps pace with the growth of their teams through its novice program, where anyone who is unfamiliar with rowing and with no prior competition experience can train and learn the sport.
Carleton’s varsity, junior varsity and novice programs welcome athletes at any year level.
Rosie O’Brien is a product of Ottawa’s Rowing Club and the MVP of last year’s season. She said the strength of the novice program is in fostering new, competitive athletes.
“I’m one of the very few people that started rowing before university, but it really is a fantastic late entry sport,” O’Brien said.
“If people don’t have a sport that they’ve been doing since they were two and they want to be active, meet people and get involved on campus, it really is such a great activity for that.”
O’Brien, who Fournier refers to as a “boat-mover,” (if you put them in the boat, the boat will go faster because they’re in there) won gold in the Varsity Women’s lightweight race at the Head of Rideau regatta this past week for the second year in a row, adding to her resume of medals, MVP and five-time athlete of the week.
She now looks toward the Head of the Trent regatta in Peterborough, Ont., this weekend as the OUA championships draw closer.
“I think it’ll be great to see the novices competing again,” O’Brien said. “Head of the Trent is a little bit shorter, so it’s a little bit more intense, and we’re going to see a lot more competition with more schools being there.
“I just really want to grow from my result last year and try to be more competitive.”
As the team pushes into the second half of the season, chasing OUA championship success amid ever-changing rosters, one thing remains constant: the warmth and camaraderie built through competition and a shared passion for rowing.
“At first, I was very shy and nervous coming onto the team, not knowing anyone, but it’s a smaller group of people and a really fantastic group of athletes who are dedicated to the sport and growing the team,” O’Brien said.
“We train and travel together, we’re up at 4 a.m., and we travel almost every weekend in the fall.
“It’s really fun and it gives you a lot of structure, which is really nice. So it’s not as scary as it sounds.”
The OUA championships will take place in St. Catharines from Oct. 24-25.
Featured Graphic by Alisha Velji/the Charlatan
