With no National Championships on the calendar for 2025, club rowing in Canada was condensed into two main regattas: the Royal Canadian Henley and the Head of the Charles. However, that didn’t stop Canadian athletes from posting impressive results – a total of 20 Henley golds, three Head of the Charles titles, and one Henley Royal Regatta trophy!
Women’s Club Rowing
The most impressive club rowing display from Canadian women this year was not isolated to a single crew or club, but rather the absolute dominance in the sweep events at Canadian Henley. Canadian crews won ten out of the twelve club events on offer!
St. Catharines Rowing Club won four events on home water, including an impressive sweep of both the women’s senior eight and U23 Eight. Makeda Harrison, Sarah Stacey, Emma Goedhart, and Ingrid Eshuis were part of both crews, and Steph Mowder, Lindsay Sferrazza, Lisa Bos, and Alexandra Wiley from the senior eight went on to place second in the senior four. The St. Catharines lightweight four of Kairsen Frick, Logan Webb, Dayun Kong, and Ana Cumming also doubled up, winning both the U23 lightweight four and senior lightweight four titles.
University of British Columbia summer squad won the senior women’s Pair (Nicole Cusack and Lyndsey Bryden) and senior women’s four (with Gabby Yarema and Kiana Bonamin joining in), as well as the senior lightweight pair (Willa Pepin and Bronwyn Posynick).
Kingston Rowing Club won the U23 Lightweight Pair (Isidora Ferguson and Isabel Geiger) and the U23 lightweight eight. In the heavyweight events, they took second place in the senior pair and senior eight, and third in the senior four. Julia Teixeira of Kingston was the lone Canadian winner out of eleven club sculling events, winning gold in the U23 Lightweight Single.
Calgary Rowing Club won the senior lightweight eight event for the tenth Canadian sweep title of 2025. Calgary alumni Clare Botterill, now representing San Diego Rowing Club, won the club singles title at Head of the Charles.
Men’s Club Rowing
On the sweep side, Canadians picked up three pair titles at Canadian Henley. Calgary Rowing Club’s Albert Harkema and Carter Cranmer-Smith won the Senior Pair, 29 years after the last time a Calgary pair won the event. The University of Victoria summer club won the U23 pair (Quinn McCoy and Simon Whittaker), and the University of British Columbia summer club won the U23 lightweight pair (Peter Scaccabarozzi and Henry Sowle).
Calgary Rowing Club had an incredibly successful year in men’s rowing – their winning senior pair teamed up with Angus Robertson, Andrew Hubbard and Paige Sze to win the club fours at Head of the Charles – the first time Calgary has won the event! Brock Rowing Club also won Head of the Charles in the alumni fours, featuring Riley Pisek, Dan Brophy, Grayson Gray, Sam Stewart, and Rio Olympian Eric Woelfl.
Canadian club men performed very well across the sculling events at Canadian Henley, winning six out of eleven events. A highlight was Matthew Finley of St. Catharines reclaiming the senior single title once again – he previously won in 2022 and 2023, also winning the championship singles in those years. Fellow St. Catharines oarsmen Lucas Maroney and Owen Bartel won the U23 double, while Giancarlo DiPompeo won the U23 Single. St. Catharines was also the only Canadian crew to make the senior eight final, placing second.
Notre Dame Rowing Club won two events, with Liam Shapland and Andrew Nawrocki winning the U23 lightweight double along with the senior lightweight quad (with Noah Paquin and Andrew Schrompf). Both feats are more impressive considering the average age of the athletes is U19! Riley Watson of Peterborough Rowing Club won the U23 Lightweight Single.
Finally, a shoutout to University of Toronto Rowing Club alumni and 2023 Pan American Games competitor Rui Xu, who won the The Wyfold Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, representing London Rowing Club.
