Weekend Wrap: Gaels Sweep OUA Banners
The Queen’s Gaels took advantage of perfect rowing conditions on the final day of October to claim both OUA women’s and men’s championship banners at the 2026 OUA Rowing Championships.
The double championship win by Queen’s marked the first time any school had swept the competition since 2019 (Western) and the first time Queen’s had accomplished the feat since 2008. The Gaels women increased their run of provincial championships to four consecutive seasons with 501 points, the only team to break 500 points on the weekend at the Royal Canadian Henley Course. The Western Mustangs won silver while the Trent Excalibur were awarded bronze.
Queen’s was led by Women’s Athlete of the Year Kaija Erickson, who earned gold in the coxed four and women’s pair races. Collectively, the Gaels took home five gold medals and two silver.
The Queen’s men won their first banner in 22 years by earning four gold medals, three silver, and two bronze. Their championship came down to the final races, as they narrowly pulled ahead of Brock and Western as competition drew to a close. Western earned silver by one point over the host Brock Badgers who claimed the bronze medal. Brock’s streak of five consecutive OUA men’s championships ended with the win by the Gaels.
Oliver Baker was named the Men’s Athlete of the Year. The champion in the men’s singles also earned the top spot in the coxed eights for the Western Mustangs.
A total of 13 schools took part in the OUA Rowing Championships which took place over two days. Heats were run on Friday afternoon followed by a full morning of finals on Saturday. Across both men’s and women’s categories Queen’s medaled in an impressive 16 of a possible 20 events. Next on the overall medal tally was Western with 14, followed by Brock with nine, Rent with seven, Ottawa with six, Guelph with three, Toronto with two and Carleton, Ontario Tech, and McGill with one apiece.
Prior to the OUA Rowing Championships, the OUA Development Regatta was run on Friday morning and featured ten events in the novice and junior varsity categories. Trent, Brock and Western each earned four medals in the development regatta, followed by Queen’s with three, and Waterloo, Toronto, and Ottawa with two. Carleton, TMU, RMC, McMaster, Nipissing and Guelph each earned one medal apiece.
Gaels coaches Scott Feddery and Kathleen Rankin were named co-winners of the Women’s Team Coach of the Year, while Stu Robinson of Queen’s was awarded the Men’s Team Coach of the Year.
OUA Awards
Women’s Athlete of the Year: Kaija Erickson – Queen’s
Men’s Athlete of the Year: Oliver Baker – Western
Women’s Team Coach of the Year: Scott Feddery and Kathleen Rankin – Queen’s
Men’s Team Coach of the Year: Stu Robinson – Queen’s
Final Standings
Women
Queen’s – 501
Western – 394
Trent – 221
Ottawa – 208
Guelph – 151
McGill – 109
Carleton – 81
Brock – 73
McMaster – 73
Toronto – 54
Ontario Tech – 40
Nipissing – 31
Waterloo – 28
Men
Queen’s – 483
Western – 422
Brock – 421
Ottawa – 164
McGill – 111
Trent – 105
Guelph – 95
Toronto – 85
Waterloo – 49
McMaster – 35
Carleton – 30
Ontario Tech – 16
Nipissing – 2
For full results from the OUA Rowing Championships, visit RegattaCentral.
For the full regatta calendar in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
With files from the OUA
