Voting Opens for Row Ontario’s New Performance of the Year Award

Voting for Row Ontario’s Performance of the Year Award is now open and features a group of seven nominees who had outstanding performances in 2022!

The Performance of the Year Award, which is a new addition to the Row Ontario Awards Program, recognizes an outstanding performance in a regatta by a member or members of the Ontario rowing community. The outstanding performance in a regatta may be held in Ontario or elsewhere.

The winner of the Performance of the Year Award is chosen by an online vote. So, it’s up to YOU to decide the winner!

The nominees and a description of their outstanding performances are found below. Read through the nominees and cast your vote below! Voting is open to everyone in the Ontario rowing community. Please limit one vote per person.

Voting for the Performance of the Year award will close on Thursday, Feb. 16. The winner of the Performance of the Year Award will be announced along with the rest of the 2022 Row Ontario Award winners on Friday, Feb. 17. Don’t miss your chance to vote!

Nominees

Ava Semeniuk

Club: Argonaut Rowing Club
Regatta: Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
Results: U17 W4x – Gold, U19 W4x – Silver, U17 W8+ – 4th place, U17 W1x – 5th place

Ava and her U17 Women’s 4x crew won Henley by a margin of over 14 seconds, but Ava didn’t stop there. She also led her team to a fourth place finish in the U17 Women’s 8+; the first time an Argonaut 8+ had been in a Henley final in many years. Later that week, she would manage a 2nd place finish in the U19 Women’s 4x event, followed up later that day with a 5th place finish in the U17 Women’s 1x. Ava raced more at that regatta than any other Argonaut – every event had heats, semi-finals, and finals, meaning that Ava had 12 races over the 5 days she was racing – more than double what many of her competitors were required to do. Ava managed this without complaint, and with incredible racing performances. The race in the U19 Women’s 4x is especially noteworthy; Ava was racing with an extremely talented crew of women that were leading for over half the race, only being surpassed in the last stretch by a much larger, older, and more experienced American crew. Their time of 6:42 was an all-time best by nearly 10 seconds for the crew, and they did that with it being Ava’s 11th race of the week. Despite being disappointed with the second place finish, Ava dusted herself off and got back on the water barely an hour later to place 5th in the final of the U17 Women’s 1x, her twelfth and final race of the week.

Sarah Pidgen and Aubrey Oldham

Team Canada
Regatta: World Rowing Beach Sprints
Results: CMix2 – 4th, CW1x – 4th (Sarah), CM1x – Advanced to QF (Aubrey)

Aubrey Oldham (Leander Boat Club) and Sarah Pidgen (Don Rowing Club) came in fourth place in the mixed doubles category in a great performance at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals and also raced in the solo events. The Beach Sprints took place in Wales’ Pembrokeshire National Park at the Saundersfoot beach and harbour from Oct. 14-16. Oldham and Pidgen, who were competing in their third consecutive World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, earned their spot in the semifinals of the mixed doule by winning their quarterfinal race against Italy. They lost their semi-final race to Great Britain to wind up competing for the bronze medal against France, where they fell just short of a medal by six seconds to place fourth. Pidgen also placed fourth in the women’s solo after the finals were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Results from the second round of competition were used to determine the medalist. Oldham bowed out of the men’s solo in the quarterfinals after being defeated by the eventual bronze medalist from Finland.

Leander Senior Lightweight Women’s 8+ (Delaney Davis, Zoe Durcak, Isabella Durcak, Abbey Maillet, Myma Okuda-Rayfuse, Vivian Lee, Heidi Akot, Austine Wang)

Club: Leander Boat Club
Regatta: Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
Result: Gold Medal

This determined group of ladies continuously showed their dedication to each other, coaches, and competition as they trained towards winning a Henley Gold in the Senior Light Women’s 8 event this year. The nine athletes all started their rowing careers at Leander Boat Club and show their commitment to the program by returning each summer after representing 3 Universities between Canada and the US. Their results throughout the season did not necessarily make them favored to win the event but the theme of the week was to “be gutsy” when on the racecourse. Following their crew motto, the girls gave a perfect example of how working together can allow them to achieve their goals. Starting off the race the group was behind, with persistence and tenacity they were able to make up the distance. Eventually the ladies pulled off the win by a boat length against some tough competition. This performance reflects the strength of the light women’s senior program offered at Leander Boat Club.

(Race Starts at 2:08:13)

2022 World Rowing Tour – Participants and Organizers

Regatta: 2022 World Rowing Tour ‘Bays and Islands’
Results: An outstanding week of row touring in South Eastern Ontario!

More than two years went into organizing the World Rowing Tour 2022 – ‘Bays and Islands’ – following Ontario Adventure Rowing’s Peter Jepson’s original vision. Fifty-one international rowers from 12 countries, from as far away as Australia, enjoyed the beautiful Bay of Quinte and 1000 Islands areas from 10 to 18 September, with 6 days of rowing and many off-water activities. This tour was the first time for some of the rowers to be in ‘coastal’ quads – boats designed for rough water, with 4 people sculling and 1 in the coxswain seat steering. A few rather erratic routes were observed with some of the boats initially as the steering can be quite sensitive. On average, the boats covered about 30 kms/day but some (who shall remain nameless) covered a bit more! The total distance covered over the 6 days of rowing was 185 kms with 39 kms on the longest day. For about 50% of the participants, this was their first experience of a World Rowing Tour, having previously toured from their local clubs. The other 50% had done some, and in some cases many, World Rowing Tours before. It was wonderful to see old friendships re-kindled and new ones formed. The sound of laughter constantly mixed with different languages and accents was a memorable background to the tour.

Elizabeth Najjar

Club: Don Rowing Club
Regatta: Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
Results: U17 W1x – Gold, U17 W2x – Gold

As a 15-year-old female competing at Henley for the first time, Elizabeth won both events she raced: the U17 single by 7 seconds AND the U17 double with her partner Marianna Jankowski by 10 seconds. Elizabeth’s commitment to rowing is unparalleled for someone her age. As a 15-year-old, currently in grade 10, she has already been rowing for 4 years and therefore knows the level of dedication and intensity required for success. Despite restrictions related to COVID Elizabeth relentlessly worked to improve herself as a rower and athlete and her results are a direct reflection of that. Elizabeth is focused and committed to continue her pursuit towards Regional and National Teams and the pride of representing Ontario and Canada on the world stage.

Team Ontario

Regatta: 2022 Canada Summer Games
Results: 11 gold medals, 2 silver medals, 1 4th place

In front of an enthusiastic crowd and competing in their home provinces waters on Martindale Pond in St. Catharines, the Team Ontario rowing team put on a dominant performance at the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games winning 11 gold and two silver medals in 14 events. Team Ontario qualified all 14 of their boats for the medal finals after a strong preliminary round which saw 12 boats win their qualifying heats while two finished in second place. Team Ontario featured a squad of 26 athletes, with many of the Team Ontario rowers earning multiple medals at the Games. Three athletes earned three medals, Stephen Harris was the lone athlete to earn three golds (M1x, LM2x, M4x) while Maya Meschkuleit (W2-, W4-, W8+) and Hailey Mercuri (W1x, W4-, W8+) each earned two golds and one silver. The Team Ontario rowers helped Ontario come out on top of the overall medal standings with 198 medals (86 gold, 60 silver, 52 bronze), contributing to almost 13% of the gold medals the province won.

Alyssa Pastic

Club: Ottawa Rowing Club
Regatta: Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
Results: Senior LW2- – Gold, Senior LW 4x – Gold, Senior LW4- – Gold

Aly captured 3 Gold Medals in 3 Senior Lightweight boat classes at the 138th RCHR. This is no easy feat and does not occur often at this event. Aly spent most of her time training in her priority boat, the 4x. The other boats, the 2- and 4+, were trained less than 5 times each before they were raced, and only once or twice in the racing combination. Not many people can say they have won a Canadian Henley Gold after only training a boat a few times, let alone 2 golds. Aly spent much of her time in stroke seat because of her experience and quiet leadership skills. She even volunteered to go a bit out of her comfort zone and jumped into bow seat a few days before racing the 2- to save me from a higher risk of injury. She has a remarkable ability to push me and the rest of the crew past what they think their limits are during races, yet she is one of the most self-effacing and humble people you will ever meet. She provided her crews and her entire team of over 40 women with an outstanding role model for not just how to race, but how to refuel and recover properly for a large number of races. Aly should be recognized as a role model for women in the Ontario rowing community.

Cast Your Vote Below!

Voting for the Performance of the Year Award has now closed.