Row Ontario Announces 2024 Annual Award Winners
Outstanding accomplishments during the 2024 rowing season were recognized by Row Ontario on Thursday with the announcement of the 2024 Row Ontario Annual Award winners.
The deserving group of award winners from the Ontario rowing community included athletes, clubs, coaches, umpires and volunteers as eight annual award winners were announced, along with 27 long service recipients and 26 volunteer certificate recipients.
An impressive season on the water for Giancarlo DiPompeo was recognized as the St. Catharines Rowing Club product earned the coveted Athlete of the Year Award. DiPompeo competed both domestically and internationally in 2024. Racing on his home course at the 2024 Mega World Rowing Championships in August, he teamed with Owen Kudreikis to earn a fourth-place finish in the U23 men’s lightweight double in a deep field with nine competing boats. One month prior, he competed at the FISU World University Games in Rotterdam, Netherlands and placed second overall in the lightweight men’s single.
In addition to his international results, DiPompeo again teamed with Kudreikis to win a gold medal at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in the senior men’s lightweight double and earned a gold medal in the U23 men’s single at the RCA National Rowing Championships in October, good for second overall at the event. DiPompeo also competed for the Victoria Vikes on the university circuit, capping off his season by earning a silver and two bronze medals at the Canadian University Rowing Championships in helping the Vikes to a third overall finish in the men’s standings.
The two coaching awards went to Scott Anderson of the Brock Rowing Club, who took home Competitive Coach of the Year, and Tammy Curtis of the Argonaut Rowing Club, who earned the Learn to Row / Recreational Coach of the Year.
Anderson coached at multiple levels throughout 2024 including the U23 men’s eight that finished in fourth place at the 2024 Mega World Rowing Championships. His most impressive coaching results may have been at the university level, where he coached the Brock Badgers men’s rowing team to their fourth consecutive OUA Banner. At the OUA Championships, every Brock men’s crew won a medal (5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) and at the Canadian University Rowing Championships, the Badgers finished second overall in the nation. Anderson also assisted the St. Catharines Rowing Club on many fronts including coach education, mentoring young coaches, managing the website and creating training databases. In addition to actively coaching crews Anderson is also a Row Ontario coach developer, assists with Brock’s yearly training program, and mentors Brock students-athletes from an academic perspective. He continually balances care with high expectations while fostering both a positive and challenging environment.
Among Curtis’ accomplishments in 2024 were working with the Argo’s novice team to help strengthen the club’s junior development pathway. In 2024, 40 new athletes came through the novice program with many already moving to the competitive level at the club. Through a CSAI Grant she also built a program to allow dozens of members of Toronto’s Parkdale Community to be introduced to rowing at no cost. Curtis, who has been volunteering at Argo’s for several years, is also the coach of the nearby Kingsway College School, where she built the team from a group of six to 20 in under 18 months. She excels in introducing the sport to new rowers through her passion and love of rowing and the programs she coaches at the club regularly boast very high retention, engagement and enthusiasm for rowing.
The winner of the 2024 Chair’s Award is not just an individual or team but an entire community as the Volunteer Community for the 2024 Mega World Rowing Championships were recognized for collective efforts and unwavering dedication. The Mega Worlds ran from Aug. 18-25 in St. Catharines and featured eight days of racing with approximately 1200 athletes from 60 countries populating Henley Island. Over 1000 volunteers were needed to pull off the event, and the success of the event would not have been possible without the hard work, enthusiasm, dedication and passion for rowing that the volunteer community displayed throughout the week. Through this spirit of volunteerism, a new standard for international regattas was established and each volunteer helped make the 2024 Mega Worlds an unforgettable experience.
The Guelph Rowing Club was honoured for their exceptional year on and off the water with the Row Ontario Club of the Year award. On the water, 33 junior, U23 and senior athletes represented the GRC on the Ontario rowing circuit. The club’s rowers brought home eight provincial medals at the Row Ontario Championships, and they sent their largest contingent ever (18 crews) to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Guelph products Stephen Harris and Kristina Harris also both earned a spot on the Mega World Rowing Championships team and competed against the world in St. Catharines in August. The 2024 year was a time of growth for the club as they grew their membership by 18% from 2023 (membership is also up by 58% from 2019) and hiring the most staff (5) they’ve ever had. They also grew their physical assets, adding seven boats to their fleet as well as several sets of oars and two coach boats, all of which allowed their members more quality training and opportunities to race at events.
Outside of racing, the GRC was a successful recipient of the Trillium Grant, which helped fund their junior-aged Learn to Row Summer Camp and reinforced the club’s ability to provide quality programs for Guelph’s youth. They also hosted a successful Try-It Day which introduced rowing to over 40 people from the Guelph area and continued their focus on coaching education and compliance. The club has over 30 volunteer coaches, all of which are registered and compliant, and they hosted two coaching workshops (RCA Weekend #2 and LTR Coach), which nine GRC coaches attended. The 2024 season was a particularly special one for club since it was their 25th anniversary year. They hosted a celebration in the summer to commemorate the occasion with members from throughout the club’s history coming together to celebrate.
Three umpires in the Ontario rowing community were also announced as award winners with Julia Fournier winning the Umpire of the Year award and Lynda Dundas and Louise Hastings each being named a recipient of the Umpire Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ottawa’s Fournier umpired at many different regattas in 2024, from Eastern Ontario to the Niagara region. She is always ready to travel long distances in the province, having attended multiple Row Ontario regattas and the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in the recent past. She is constantly engaged in her professional development as an umpire to ensure that rules are not only adhered to but are also interpreted fairly and consistently by participating in local and online seminars. Fournier is also the Chair of the Head of the Rideau regatta, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024 and coach’s junior development crews at the Ottawa Rowing Club. When she’s not umpiring on weekends, Fournier’s a fierce master’s competitor who is usually racing at a regatta. On certain race days, she has even umpired after racing, because she will help whenever she can.
The Don Rowing Club’s Lynda Dundas has been committed to growing umpiring for more than three decades as an Umpire, Chief Umpire, Mentor and Administrator. She’s a level three umpire and has umpired at regattas throughout Ontario and Canada for many years. She has served as Chief Umpire at several events including in the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships, Row Ontario Championships, Dominion Day Regatta, CORA Regattas and the 2017 Invictus Games. Dundas has played a critical role in growing umpiring in Ontario and Canada through the mentoring of many Toronto-based umpires through the licensing process, serving as Row Ontario VP Events & Umpires (2004-2008) and serving as a member of the RCA Events & Safety Committee at various time throughout her three decades of involvement in rowing. She adds a fresh perspective and is a good leader of umpires, building strong teams at each regatta. Dundas has always displayed a calm style that is so intrinsically rooted in the RCA Rules of Racing, that you don’t even notice it except for the fairness and balance she demonstrates.
Louise Hastings has umpired for approximately 25 years and has a been a big contributor to the St. Catharines Rowing Club and Ontario rowing community in several different ways. As an umpire, she is a consistent presence at regattas and displays a positive attitude towards the athletes while being a friendly, compassionate and strong leader amongst the other umpires. She has been the Chief Umpire at several regattas including the OUA Rowing Championships in 2023. She regularly hosts umpires at her house when they travel to St. Catharines to umpire events is always willing to mentor other umpires and share her knowledge of the sport. For many years she has tended to organize her life – like so many umpires – around the regatta schedule and it is very much appreciated by umpires, volunteers, athletes and coaches in all the roles she takes on.
Chosen by an online vote by the Ontario rowing community, the Performance of the Year winner is Virginia Gates of the Niagara Falls Rowing Club. Gates’ winning performance came in her first major indoor competition of the year at the 2024 Nancy Storrs Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships in February. Competing in the Junior High School Women event, Gates earned the gold medal and in the process broke the 24-year-old event record with a time of 07:17. She used the event as a stepping stone to several other impressive performances in 2024, including two CSSRA gold medals in junior single and senior double, U17 Ontario Championships gold and three top-three finishes at Henley.
Row Ontario 2024 Award Winners
Athlete of the Year – Giancarlo DiPompeo & Owen Kudreikis, St. Catharines Rowing Club
Competitive Coach of the Year – Scott Anderson, Brock Rowing Club
Learn to Row / Recreational Coach of the Year – Tammy Curtis, Argonaut Rowing Club
Chair’s Award – 2024 MEGA World Rowing Championships Volunteer Community
Club of the Year – Guelph Rowing Club
Umpire of the Year – Julia Fournier
Umpire Lifetime Achievement Award – Lynda Dundas & Louise Hastings
Performance of the Year – Virginia Gates, Niagara Falls Rowing Club
Long Service Awards
Given to participants of a member club who has volunteered in the Ontario rowing community for 15 years or more.
15 Years
Virgilio Santos – Hanlan Boat Club
Nicola Worsfold – Hanlan Boat Club
Avtar Dhanota – Hanlan Boat Club
Alison Collins-Mrakas – Hanlan Boat Club
20 Years
Brian Singleton – Hanlan Boat Club
Hugh Fletcher – Hanlan Boat Club
Elissa Gallander – Hanlan Boat Club
Sara Erskine – Hanlan Boat Club
Peter Redfern – LaSalle Rowing Club
Gord Henry – London Western Rowing Club
Bernard Rochon – Ottawa New Edinburgh Club
Mark Chapman – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Meredith Petrychanko – St. Catharines Rowing Club
25 Years
Cathy Wilson – Island Lake Rowing Club
Aleks Lietz – Island Lake Rowing Club
Bob Ralph – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Murray Scott – St. Catharines Rowing Club
30 Years
Peter Bursztyn – Barrie Rowing Club
Marion Markarian – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Don Markarian – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Liz Iannizzi – St. Catharines Rowing Club
John Gleddie – St. Catharines Rowing Club
35 Years
Peter Somerwil – St. Catharines Rowing Club
40 Years
Bob Schenck – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Tom Kent – St. Catharines Rowing Club
45 Years
Ron Burak – St. Catharines Rowing Club
50 Years
Ken Sandham – St. Catharines Rowing Club
Club Volunteer Certificates
Presented by member clubs to their hard-working volunteers who have invested countless time and energy into the sport of rowing.
Argonaut Rowing Club
Mike Ostrowski
Piper Treadwell
Joel Burgon
Julie McKernan
Joël Campbell
Irina Ruban
Collingwood Rowing Club
Megan Kloet
CSSRA
Al Shynal
Hanlan Boat Club
Harold Murray
Elene Brett-Evans
Joanne McNeish
Island Lake Rowing Club
Oliver Stenzel
LaSalle Rowing Club
Dean Gibson
Colleen Romance
Orillia Rowing Club
Fern Splichal
South Niagara Rowing Club
Paula Vasko
Jamie Madronich
St. Catharines Rowing Club
Nick Murray-Coplen
Andrew Barry
Nathan Vandervaart
Jared Boles
Erin Sharpe
Henley Island Helpers
Hailey Haymes
St. Catharines World Rowing
Bruce Henning
University of Toronto Rowing
Mike Braithwaite
Western Rowing
Ryan Mitra
Certificates and Long Service Award pins will be sent to all clubs who submitted nominations for distribution to their award winners at a later date.
Row Ontario thanks everyone throughout the Ontario rowing community who submitted nominations and/or votes for the 2024 Awards, and for making 2024 a year to remember.
