PEI is another gorgeous Maritime province. It had a wonderful glow about it (probably due to the colour of the dirt!). With Canada Games on its way, you could feel the excitement on the island for this major sporting event. Although rowing is in the Games, there is no rowing club on PEI nor a Provincial Sport Organization. During my Atlantic visit, I went to assess the possibilities on PEI for leaving a rowing legacy after the games.

Brudenell rowing site

Justin Batten, technical director of Canoe Kayak and president of Canoe Kayak PEI has taken a keen interest in rowing. Canoe Kayak PEI has been very helpful to Rowing Canada and agreed to have a division for rowing in order to fulfill the role of a Rowing PSO on PEI (very important in order to have a Team PEI racing at the Games). Currently Team PEI rowers have been training at their private boarding schools off the island (mainly in New Brunswick). I had the opportunity to meet Team PEI coach Cindy Burton who is extremely dedicated to helping this team succeed.

Brd building

The Canada Games rowing site is on private land therefore, both Canoe/Kayak and Rowing on PEI have found an alternate site for training in a provincial park called Brudenell. This is on a coastal inlet so it is tidal. This site is ideal for both sports and offers opportunities for all types of rowing including but not exclusive to: traditional slide seat, fixed seat rowing, touring: adventure, leisure or eco, coastal/open water, dory or punt rowing, sprint races, recreational regattas and more…

Brudenell Provincial Park has approved Rowing and Kayaking to operate out of the park. There is a small building (not quite big enough for rowing shell storage), which is predominately used by youth and family groups in the summer. However, it is used very little overall. Sport and Recreation PEI are pushing to have this site as the club base for Canoe/Kayak and Rowing with the Parks and use of that building.

The water way is beautiful and currently has a long dock that could accommodate all boat sizes. The only issue is there is no ramp to the dock (yet!), just stairs which would make it difficult for larger boats or adaptive rowers. I hope with the small amount of equipment Team PEI has purchased, the enthusiasm for the Games and a bit of work with an extremely helpful Parks and Recreation division on PEI and Canoe/Kayak PEI PSO, that rowing will continue to grow and flourish from 2009 onwards.