Canadian University Championships
The 2025 Canadian University Rowing Championships (CURC) in Montreal delivered a regatta for the history books, marked by a seismic shift in the women’s competition and the continuation of an unprecedented dynasty on the men’s side.
Before diving into the race review, a personal story seems fitting. As a proud Thunderbird alumnus who raced at three CURCs myself, I’ve maintained a tradition with my national team teammates from UVic and UBC. With eight athletes from our two West Coast programs currently on the national team, we make good-hearted bets each year on who will win the overall team championship, leading into what I jokingly call the best weekend of the year.
This year was no different, and we shook on our terms before the regatta began. As the championship weekend unfolded, however, I came to a shocking realisation: Queen’s was about to win the banner, and I hadn’t made an agreement with our teammate who rowed for Queen’s. Being the West Coast elitist I am, I simply hadn’t thought they would win.
Queen’s Ends the 18-Year Drought.
The most significant moment of the championships came when the Queen’s Gaels captured the Women’s Banner with 119 points, securing the program’s first national title since 2007. The victory broke an 18-year championship drought and represented a changing of the guard in Canadian university women’s rowing. The battle for the banner came down to the wire, with Queens ultimately outscoring the perennial powerhouse Western Mustangs, who finished second with 100 points. The Gaels’ championship run was built on dominance in the crew boats, where crews can accumulate the most points toward the overall banner competition. Queens claimed gold in the marquee women’s eight, finishing two seconds ahead of silver medallist Brock.
This race marked a seismic shift in the often West Coast-dominated big boats, with UBC and UVic winning the eight for the last several years. Queens followed this with another gold medal performance in the Lightweight Coxed Four, cementing their path to the championship. The coaching staff’s impact was recognised when Scott Feddery earned CURA Women’s Crew Coach of the Year honours for his role in the historic victory. Julia Teixeira captured the CURA Female Athlete of the Year after an outstanding regatta that saw her win gold in the lightweight coxed four and claim silver in the lightweight single.
UBC’s Unprecedented Fourth Consecutive Men’s Banner.
While Queen’s was writing a new chapter in women’s rowing, the UBC Thunderbirds men were adding another line to an already remarkable legacy. Their 112-point performance secured a fourth consecutive Men’s Banner, an unprecedented achievement in CURC history. UBC’s dominance was built on exceptional speed in the heavyweight events. The Thunderbirds’ men’s eight was victorious for the eighth consecutive time, defeating UVic by a commanding 5.8 seconds. This victory served as the cornerstone of their fourth straight banner. However, it was the men’s pair that delivered the most dominant performance of the entire regatta. UBC’s pair was prognostically the fastest of the regatta at 90.53% of Rowing Canada’s gold medal standard. Their winning margin of 10.1 seconds established a new benchmark as the most significant victory margin in CURC history.
Head coach Mike Pearce received CURA Men’s Crew Coach of the Year recognition for leading the Thunderbirds to continued national supremacy. Meanwhile, Brock’s Riley Watson claimed CURC Male Athlete of the Year honours following a sensational performance across multiple events.
The Closest and Fastest: Prognostic Analysis.
Analysis of the prognostics throughout the regatta revealed fascinating insights into both raw speed and competitive balance across different boat classes. The fastest race belonged to UBC’s men’s pair, whose 90.53% of Rowing Canada GMS and ten-second winning margin was the largest winning margin in CURC history. Close behind was Brock’s lightweight men’s double, which posted the second-highest prognostic at 89.53% with a 2.5-second margin of victory, showcasing the rising strength of Brock’s lightweight program. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the women’s single provided the tightest racing of the regatta. UBC’s Gabrielle Yarema edged out Western’s Morgan Rosts in a photo finish with just 0.4 seconds separating them.
Individual Brilliance: Morgan Rosts’ Triple Threat.
Despite Western’s second-place finish in the women’s team overall and a third-place result in the women’s eight, the Mustangs featured one of the regatta’s standout performers in Morgan Rosts. The versatile athlete demonstrated great talent across all three heavyweight boat classes. Rosts claimed gold in the women’s pair, then, only two hours later, she turned around to come agonisingly close to adding a second gold medal in the women’s single, in the closest race of the day. Ultimately, she settled for silver after the closest race of the championships.
Head of the Charles
Although the Canadian University Rowing Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate rowing in Canada, several Canadian crews shipped off to Boston to race the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta just a few short weeks before their university season culminated.
Racing down the course with Bow #1, Carleton was able to claim another win in the Collegiate women’s coxed four, winning by a decisive 21 seconds over second place. In a preview of the racing the UBC men will encounter in their debut in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, they claimed bronze in the championship coxed four. The mighty lighties of UBC women stormed down the course to earn a bronze medal in the lightweight coxed four+. Finally, the Queens men, racing for Kingston, came fourth in the lightweight coxed four+.
Canadian University International Representation
An incredible thirteen Canadian University athletes had the opportunity to earn the leaf this summer. UBC’s Gabriella Worobec stroked the U23 women’s eight to a bronze medal finish. Oscar Wostenholme (UBC), Robert Walsh (UBC), Adrian Breen (UBC), Adam Griesbach (Western), and Daniel Mielecki (UVic) were in the U23 men’s eight that came twelfth. Maijken Meindertsma (UBC) made his senior debut racing in the senior men’s eight at the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China.
At the FISU World University Games, Ceilidh MacDonald (Queen’s) and Madelyn Vandermeer (UBC) raced to fifth in the women’s four. Pepper Howe (UVic) raced to seventh in the women’s double scull. Calvin Pally (Saskatchewan) and Keithan Woodhouse (Brock) raced to ninth in the men’s double scull. Finally, Charles-Etienne Tabet (Brock) raced to 13th in the men’s single scull.
Conclusion
The collegiate athletes of Canada truly put on a remarkable show this year. They showed that the future is bright and that they are capable of some truly inspiring racing. Over the next few years, it will be exciting to see who they are and what they are capable of, with some truly inspiring racing. Over the next few years, it will be exciting to see who can bridge the gap to the senior national team and become contenders at the senior level.
