Starting on June 3rd, Rowing Canada Aviron has launched its two-week Men’s Development Camp at Shawnigan Lake School in Victoria, British Columbia.

Lead Men’s Coach Lauren Fisher was instrumental in the planning and development of the camp. Lauren is driving a focus on mastering the basics of rowing training and techniques. “It’s an immensely valuable opportunity to bring together top male rowers in the pursuit of developing the future of the Olympic rowing program. The camp has focused on ‘mastering the basics’ of rowing technique and training. It has been truly inspiring to witness the athletes’ determination and growth as they work to shape the next generation of the team.”

Selected male rowers from across North America joined the senior team for training, development, and educational programming to build on the future of men’s rowing in Canada.

“This camp has done a lot to really bring the feeling of community to Rowing in Canada,” commented Robert Walsh, an athlete invited to the camp from UBC Rowing.

The development camp includes sessions on nutrition, biomechanics feedback, lactate testing, cultural sessions, and specific technical training to help athletes advance their rowing careers.

“It’s really exciting to see that Rowing Canada is creating this opportunity to pull athletes together at a number of different levels,” says Mike Pearce, Head Coach of the men’s rowing program at UBC.

Mike is one of the visiting coaches who emphasized the importance of bringing together athletes from different clubs and universities, aligning everyone with their rowing strokes, techniques, and training methods.

Similar to Mike, rower Payton Gauthier, who has been involved with RCA for the last four years through the Junior and U23 programs, thinks the camp is a fantastic opportunity to get everyone on a similar page. Payton has had the opportunity to train with the seniors during the camp, and reflects on the benefits of working closely with them:

“I have aspirations of becoming a senior athlete, and these guys are the role models and the top dogs of the program. Talking to them, you realize they have similar stories about where they came from and how they got into the sport, which is really cool. This camp has really fostered an environment for us to grow collectively and keep pushing the margin!”

Payton and several of his fellow rowers expressed their gratitude for coach Lauren Fisher and all the coaches who had a hand in making the event happen. “We really wouldn’t be in this camp right now without them. They are fostering an environment where we can grow collectively and continue to push the margin.”

Steven Rosts of the Senior Men’s Team spoke about the opportunity for U23 athletes from his perspective as one of the leaders on the national team. “I think it’s been super positive to let these guys have a taste of the centre, see where they are now, and notice areas of improvement in hopes of developing some high-performance habits. I think it will be a lot easier, whether it’s six months or two years down the road, to build our similar strokes and mindsets after this camp.” 

One of the main outcomes of this camp was to foster connections for the younger rowers and engage them with RCA’s programming.

“It’s just been really interesting to see people from all different schools and backgrounds come together and develop on our collective strokes and techniques, seeing what everyone brings to the table. It’s been really fun, we pretty much spend every waking minute together –  training, talking, napping. I think that’s at the heart of what this camp is about,”  said Sam Stewart, one of the senior four going to Henley Royal Regatta and racing in the Visitors Challenge Cup.

Another key facet of the camp was for RCA to bring coaches together from across Canada. The camp brought in a variety of techniques and helped to unite the community towards a unified vision. “Coming together and recognizing the technical model we want to bring forward to be successful has been key. All of the coaches having that kind of team upgrade to their team development will make such a positive impact,” says Scott Anderson, coach of the U23 Men’s program for 2025 and the varsity men’s rowing coach at Brock University.

Building towards the future of the men’s program in Canada, RCA hopes that this Development camp will have positive impacts for the future of rowing in Canada, fostering a strong core of athletes and coaches.

Thank You to Shawnigan Lake School

The execution of this camp would not have been possible without Shawnigan Lake School. During the camp, Shawnigan offered meals and accommodations for the rowers while also providing RCA with continued access to their facilities. It is through their partnership and dedicated commitment to the sport that RCA was able to execute the development camp for 2025.