Ontario Rowers Named to RCA U23 and IRC Teams
On July 9, Rowing Canada Aviron announced the athletes, coaches and support staff selected to represent Canada on the 2026 U23 Canadian Rowing Team and the International Rowing Challenge (U19) Team. The teams will compete across two international events this summer; the World Rowing Under 23 Championships (July 23-26, Duisburg, Germany), and the International Rowing Challenge (July 9-11, Ann Arbor, Michigan).
Among the 22 athletes named to the teams are nine Ontario-based rowers, along with nine rowers from BC, three from Alberta and one from Manitoba. Team Canada will send two boats to the World Rowing U23 Championships in Duisberg, where the 13 athletes named to the team will compete in the women’s eight and men’s four. Caillen Pieckenhagen (Ridley College) and Lucas Maroney (ONGPC) will represent Ontario in the men’s four while Charlotte Langlois (Ridley College), Madelyn Vandermeer (Guelph Rowing Club), Ella McKinley (ONGPC), Riley Richardson (Ottawa Rowing Club), and Madeleine Lauriault (Ottawa Rowing Club) will comprise five of the nine seats in the women’s eight. The women’s eight will look to continue the success of last year’s boat which earned the bronze medal at the 2025 World Rowing U23 Championships in Poznan, Poland.
Team Canada’s entry in the International Rowing Challenge, which includes two Argonaut Rowing Club members in Benjamin Schindler and Natalie McClure, will compete against squads from the USA, New Zealand, Australia, and Mexico over three days in Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor, MI. The IRC, which kicked off on Thursday, July 9, features nine boat categories and will see each member of Team Canada compete in multiple boats. Schindler and McClure will each compete in four boats, the men’s and women’s four, quad and double respectively as well as the mixed eight.
Ontario NextGen Performance Centre Coach Sandra Farwell was named coach of the IRC Team. Farwell previously coached for Team Canada at the CanAmMex Regatta in 2024.
2026 U23 Canadian Rowing Team
Women’s Eight (W8+)
Charlotte Langlois (Coxswain) – ON – Cornell University / Ridley College
Lexi Schimnowski – MB – University of Tennessee / Winnipeg Rowing Club
Bethany Nordstrom – BC – University of Rhode Island / Victoria City Rowing Club
Madelyn Vandermeer – ON – University of British Columbia / Guelph Rowing Club
Ella McKinley – ON – Syracuse University / Ontario NextGen Performance Centre
Riley Richardson – ON – University of Virginia / Ottawa Rowing Club
Lucy Hallett – BC – University of Michigan / Victoria City Rowing Club
Madeleine Lauriault – ON – University of Michigan / Ottawa Rowing Club
Novella Rusman – BC – University of Michigan / Brentwood College
Men’s Four (M4-)
Caillen Pieckenhagen – ON – University of Pennsylvania / Ridley College
Connor Bohlmann – BC – Princeton University / Vancouver College
Lucas Maroney – ON – Dartmouth College / South Niagara Rowing Club, Ontario NextGen Performance Centre
Owen Marcovitz – BC – Harvard University / Victoria City Rowing Club
Coaches and Support Staff
Katie Bahain Steenman – Coach, Women’s Program – Rowing Canada Aviron
Ben Jackson – Coach, Men’s Program – Rowing Canada Aviron
Richard Huggins – Physiotherapist – Rowing Canada Aviron
2026 International Rowing Challenge (U19) Team
Matthew Bedford (Coxswain) – BC – Vancouver College
Benjamin Schindler – ON – Argonaut Rowing Club
Owen Mayhew – BC – Vancouver College
Erik Eichmeyer – BC – Brentwood College
Brock van der Boom-Bebb – BC – Brentwood College
Natalie McClure – ON – Argonaut Rowing Club
Orla Bailey – AB – Calgary Rowing Club
Tryne Mamen – AB – Calgary Rowing Club
Anna Washbrook – AB – Calgary Rowing Club
Coaches and Support Staff
Sandra Farwell (Coach) – ON – Ontario NextGen Performance Centre
Steven Randall (Manager) – BC – University of Victoria / RCA
Follow along at International Rowing Challenge and World Rowing U23 Championships
