Maroney Heads to Dartmouth After 4 Years at ONGPC
After four years of training at the Ontario NextGen Performance Centre, Lucas Maroney will begin the next phase of his rowing career in the Ivy Leagues.
Maroney, who hails from Welland, ON, will compete for Dartmouth after committing to the school in late 2023. He was one of the inaugural members of the ONGPC, after first learning to row at the South Niagara Rowing Club. The training centre is about to celebrate its fourth anniversary after opening in September 2020 and Maroney was there from the beginning as one of the original members of the training group. He set foot in the ONGPC a few days before he even set foot in high school. The last four years have been a period of growth for him on and off the water, as he’s gone from an inexperienced rower with potential to competing at three consecutive World Rowing Junior Championships.
“I have grown so much as an athlete throughout my time at the ONGPC,” said Maroney looking back on the last four years. “An easy example of this is how on my first day I was told to rig my boat, and I had no idea what to do and needed help from the coaches. Fast forward a year and with the help of amazing coaches who cater toward my goals and push me to be my best, along with great teammates I was named to the junior national team and haven’t looked back since.”
The first year of operation for the ONGPC was in the middle of the pandemic, so competitive opportunities outside of training for Maroney were few and far between. After restrictions lifted on events towards the end of 2021, he competed in his first regatta as a member of the ONGPC at the RCA National Rowing Championships in Victoria, BC. Despite being one of the youngest competitors in a deep field of experienced rowers, which included U23 and Senior athletes, Maroney performed well at his first NRC’s, qualifying for the M1x D Final and placing 4th among junior rowers (21st overall). Not bad for someone who hadn’t reached their 16th birthday yet and who was competing in their first ever race.
“From my time at the Centre some of the best highlights include travelling to BC for NRC’s where I learned so much from the experiences,” said Maroney. “My first NRCs was in 2021 and that was my first time actually lining up at the start gates with other people. However, most of the best memories took place out on the water in Welland where most of my time was spent.”
That impressive result in BC would set the stage for 2022 when a full return to the regatta calendar allowed Maroney to compete throughout the year after an important off-season of training. Solid early season results in the spring of 2022 led to him being invited to a National Team selection camp for the 2022 World Rowing Championships. He made the team and just a month later was off to Varese, Italy to compete in his first World Championship event. Racing in the double with partner Owen Bartel, they qualified for the B Final after opening their competition by winning their first heat and quarterfinal round. They finished fifth in the B Final, good for 11th overall at the event. Another high-profile event was on tap next for Maroney, this time close to home, as he competed at the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games on Martindale Pond in St. Catharines. There he again teamed with Bartel for a silver medal in the men’s double and earned a gold in the men’s quad. Maroney capped off his 2022 season with a gold medal in the junior men’s single at NRC’s, good for eighth place overall.
The 2023 season was much of the same for Maroney as he continued to progress and once again qualified for the junior national team, this time in the single. He competed at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Paris on the 2024 Olympic course and battled extremely tough weather and choppy waters throughout the week of competition. He placed tenth overall at the event after placing fourth in the B Final, a result that would lead to Maroney being named the RCA U19 Athlete of the Year for 2023. Following the 2023 season, Maroney had his sights set on another World Championship event, this time closer to home.
“My goal for next summer is to compete on the junior national team again,” said Maroney in November 2023. “That would be really exciting since it’s being held in St. Catharines, so being able to have my family there watching would be pretty cool.”
His goal became a reality earlier this year when he was once again named to the junior national team, again in the single. In front of an enthusiastic home crowd in St. Catharines, Maroney competed in his third consecutive World Rowing Junior Championships in August, where he would demonstrate that his hard work training at the ONGPC over the last four years have paid off. He was impressive all week long and qualified for his first World Championships A Final. During his final race before setting off to Dartmouth, Maroney battled hard in the last 500m, overtaking Australia’s single and finishing just a second behind Switzerland’s boat in fifth place. As he prepares for the next phase of his rowing career in the Ivy Leagues, Maroney aims to become a more well-rounded rower and gain experience in bigger boats.
“My goals for my first year at Dartmouth are to learn how to sweep and become used to being a part of a bigger crew since most of my training has been in a single these past four years.”
Since opening in Sept. 2020, the ONGPC has been home to over 100 centralized and de-centralized athletes. More than 40 athletes who have trained at the ONGPC have gone to row in universities across Canada and the United States and ONGPC athletes have qualified for 35 RCA Teams.
