Calgary Rowing Club Visit 2010

By Colleen Miller

It has been 20 years since I last visited the Calgary Rowing Club (CRC) and as I approached the boathouse, I could see it was still thriving in 2010! The first one to greet me at the club was the manager, Blair Rasmussen (incidentally, my first coach 23 years ago at the Winnipeg Rowing Club).

I arrived on the perfect day. There was beautiful sun and calm water for an evening row at the Glenmore Reservoir. The club was active with junior, senior and masters rowers taking advantage of this summer's evening.

I was there to see firsthand the development of adaptive rowing in Calgary. Shona McLaren, a former national team lightweight rower, now a Physiotherapist in Calgary, has taken the bull by the horns (oops, it was Stampede weekend!) and coordinated this program for the Calgary Rowing Club. Shona's experience as an adaptive classifier, rower and coach has been instrumental in growing CRC's Adaptive program. CRC recently received an adaptive rowing grant from RCA, which enabled them to purchase a coxed four.

With the support and partnership of the Alberta Amputee Sports and Recreation Association, the CRC has encouraged individuals with an amputation to experience the sport of rowing. On this sunny evening there were 3 adaptive rowers ready to go out in the coxed four. Each rowing athlete has an upper extremity amputation. With coach Christina Fuller stepping into two seat, I was the one to cox the boat. Boy, were they in for a treat!

We headed off and had a great row, gradually getting all four rowers with the blades off the water and "lighting it up" once I called for a "10 with the legs". We had a wonderful time with increasing smiles and skill development throughout the session.

CBC radio came out to showcase the CRC adaptive rowing program and interview some team members. The CBC audio clip can be heard at this link