Golden novices at Western Canadian University rowing championships, again

More than half of the Rustlers crew came home from the Western Canadian University Rowing Championships with a gold medal.

Like many Rustler crews before them, the novice women's 8 claimed the championship. "The coxed 4 women raced and then joined with the rest of their boat for the novice race," says coach Peter Walsh. "It was a close two-boat race for the first half, but as the race progressed the Rustler crew pulled ahead to finish with a convincing open water victory over the University of Calgary."

Every one of the 13 Rustler Crew members was a novice, so the junior varsity men's and women's coxed four crews were in tough against more experienced rowers. Both teams were fifth in their races.

"Neither of crews looked out of place in their races considering how much experience they were up against," says Walsh. "The men even felt they could have done better."

Many of this year's crew will return in 2020. That bodes well says Walsh. "We were able to see some important growth and skill-building throughout the very compressed season," he says.

Jennifer McGuinnes, an environmental sciences instructor, joined Walsh as a 2019 coach.

The Western Canadian University Rowing Championships were in Burnaby, BC. The Rustlers' races were all on Oct 6.