BLACKIE SPIT PARK, SURREY, B.C. (Sept. 21, 2024) — The sun was shining for the 2024 Nicomekl Regatta and although the Cascades didn’t take home any hardware, they showed plenty of grit and determination. The UFV rowing club wanted to raise their compete level from practice for the event and wasn’t concerned with overall placement in the regatta.
Maya Drisner and Aaron Hyde spoke to The Cascade following their completion of the mixed doubles event, and explained taking the race ten hard strokes at a time. “We pushed power 10s pretty often, [and] were able to keep our rate below 215,” said Drisner. “We were able to pass three boats, and then going [in] to the no passing zone with 50 metres to spare, we were able to pass one [more] boat and keep them off for the rest!” Drisner and Hyde would just miss a medal position as they finished fourth of the six teams racing in net time. The pair weren’t discouraged by their placing, Drisner said. “We didn’t hit anything, and we were able to beat our practice time by approximately one minute and 30 seconds!”
Team coach Alicia Borsoi discussed her team’s morning. She said, “I think it’s a challenging course. And I think the sun was a bit challenging for rowers today to actually steer a good course.” Borsoi says coaches can only really see the last kilometre of the race; as a coach she’s looking at “how they’re rowing when they’re really tired and have done quite a long stretch.” She expressed that the finish of the race “gives us a good idea [of] their current fitness and abilities to hold their technique together under all the pressure and stress at this race.”
Borsoi and fellow coach Lisa Roman simulate pressure and intensity in practice, so rowers are comfortable in races and tournaments. “We do 6k race pieces in practice, so we simulate the distance that they will be [racing],” said Borsoi. “Our waterway is pretty versatile, so we can actually get a little bit of the cornering that they need to do for this type of racing.”
Peter Inden also narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fifth out of ten rowers in the men’s single in net time. On his history with UFV rowing, he said, “It’s a great way to meet other people. We’ve met lots of people from the SFU rowing team that we always do stuff with, and we’ve had people come over from the UVic rowing team as well.”
After shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has taken major strides in the last handful of years. “Lisa Roman and myself have been working to rebuild the entirety of the program in the last three years,” said Borsoi. Looking at the program’s growth with a wider lens, Borsoi said, “If I look at how far it’s come in the last three or four years — I’m extremely excited — we have fourth year athletes, [we’re] highly competitive, [and] we are getting results; we’re getting the recruiting.”
After navigating some tough waters, both at Nicomekl and as a program, UFV’s rowing club appears to finally be sailing smoothly. The rowing team welcomes all students, for those looking to get involved.
