The St. Catharines Rowing Club PresentsA Conversation with Kristen Kit The road to the Olympics, even for a seasoned veteran like Kit, is paved with difficulty. 
 LK: Could you speak about your introduction to the sport of rowing? Where does St. Catharines fit into this? KK: I went to Sir Winston Churchill (go bulldogs!), and I was a very mediocre, but competitive, cross country runner. In grade nine, the learn to row program was very popular and I knew a lot of people participating. My grandfather, John Kit, helped start the rowing program at Churchill as a teacher-advisor. He actually gave some money near the end of his life to the club for boats. I showed up to a few indoor sessions, and got lucky. I was put in a really good boat, that I was definitely under qualified to be in at the time. It was a midweight four, I believe, and three of the girls were already experienced, and Nicole Gough and I were the grade nines. We won a lot of races that year. I was really fortunate to be in that boat. I remember at the Early Bird regatta, we were in the starting gates, and I realized that I didn’t know how to steer straight! I remember saying into the mic, “girls, we gotta go, because I’m going to hit boats”. We crossed the course horizontally twice, and we still won. They were just so strong that we got ahead of everyone and it didn’t matter. I loved competition, the culture, and the camaraderie that our coach, Andrew Pilsworth built, which made me come back.
I joined the SCRC club that summer. It was so cool, I think we had seven Jr. B Women’s eights. It was really fun to see how good I could try to get. I made it into the top boat, but it was really hard and very fulfilling. We didn’t do well at Henley; in all my years of junior, we never won a medal at Henley. But it was such a neat experience. In grade 10, we did really well again, this time moving up to senior. We won everything in grade 11. The whole program did so well that year; it was an amazing group of athletes. I’m from a pretty average, middle-class family-- rowing for SWC and SCRC opened a lot of doors for me, which I am very grateful for. The first three years instilled the passion that comes and goes to be honest, and that was what made it fun. My experience of growing up and coxing in St. Catharines is what established my foundation for the sport. I think it [the culture] was a pretty special thing that the club offered me, it gave us all meaning in our daily lives. LK: Yes, we are so lucky that there are so many schools in our area that foster rowing, because that is quite rare generally speaking. KK: Absolutely, and from the funding side of things, it was fairly inexpensive for me to participate, and I don’t see that in many other places in the world. It’s pretty amazing what the club does to work with the high schools to have co-ownership with the equipment and such, because it’s making so many opportunities available for students. LK: We have met very briefly once before, at the 2017 NRCs. You knew my coach, Michele Fisher, from the national team circle, and struck up a conversation while we were practicing before the regatta. I recall that you thanked her for her advice to wear hats in the boat at the Sarasota World Championships because of the torrential downpour. Going off of that, how do you feel about rowing, and any sport really, being a constant learning process in which collaboration is crucial? KK: I’ve relied a lot on athletes and coaches to help me in the learning process. I always tell coxswains, you have to be a rowing nerd to become a good one. I have this very curious part of my brain that’s always learning what I can do to help my boat find speed. I’m really hungry to learn and do my best. I also learn a lot from my teammates. Every boat and every group has its own personality, and even if the people stay the same, the personality of the boat will change, because people change over time. So I always try to support and adapt, and try to be the best athlete I can be. I think that’s what will help me for Tokyo if we get to race. I had a bit of an up and down four years leading up to Rio. There were moments when I felt like I had the choice to either keep doing the same thing, or push myself to find new ways to discover that speed, and better support my crew. In terms of collaboration for myself, I’d love to use my experiences to help other coxswains. I mentor coxswains now, and it’s great. I genuinely believe that you can have all the information in the world, but in the moment, you still have to be able to make the right decision. It’s hard as a coxswain if you don’t have a model, so I’m happy to pay it forward. I don’t want it to be a sheltered, individual process.  LK: What excites you about rowing? How do you maintain that passion in the midst of the pandemic? KK: It’s been different; we broke the day after Canada pulled out of the Olympics, and we were largely on our own in a quarantine situation until June. I race road bikes professionally, I was on a UCI, professional contract for two years with InstaFund Left Prima racing in Vancouver. That really helped me with the mental side of racing. I used to run half marathons, but then I started injuring myself, so I bought a bike. I use the bike as my training tool both for weight as well as learning how to keep a consistent wattage under the pressure of lactate! There’s a lot of carry over between cycling and rowing in terms of performance and racing. As a coxswain, I don’t really get to race that much, so the bike gets me more race starts! In the pandemic, the bike allowed me to explore and adventure in a safe way, and I still do that now that we are back training full time. It’s a great mental release. I’m choosing to not race before the Olympics because the risk of injury is not worth it. I do train 15-20 hours on the bike a week, and I try to do similar workouts to the women. It helps me to understand the mental side of consistently putting in your best effort day after day. I also had a coxswain coach, as well as a variety of Olympic medallist coxswains mentor me in the last year. I’m always trying new things to stay sharp. In rowing we can plan for everything but something can still happen, be it equipment malfunctions, weather conditions, or extraneous circumstances. So I try to amass as many tools in my toolbox as I can (an idea my old UBC coach, Craig Pond, put in my head).  Outside of rowing, I’m working on my undergrad. I also work part time at a financial startup doing research (Collective2Financial). My first U23s was in 2009, so I’ve been pretty focused on rowing for a long time. This will be my third Games if Tokyo happens and it’s really good to have a focus outside of rowing, because when things are going well, it’s such a rush, but when things may not be going as well, it can be really low. So it’s great to have something outside of rowing to balance it all out. It’s also important to be honest about how difficult it is right now. Everyone is struggling in this very crazy time. I’m seeing a lot of positive content out there on social media, but it’s also important to acknowledge that these are hard times. Many coxswains especially haven’t been in a boat in such a long time. LK: Absolutely. But if I’ve learned anything in the last year that if you hit a major roadblock in training, it doesn’t mean you’re done for as an athlete. Obviously you need to keep training, but with situations like this, your athletic career isn’t over. I certainly struggled with that when everything closed up in thinking that it would be so difficult to recover from this, but as athletes, we are resilient and can make a triumphant return. KK: Yes, just make the most of what you have and move forward.
LK: What lessons have you learned from rowing that are also applicable to other aspects of your life? KK: The big two that I like to share are: The first is, ‘why not me?’ Someone has to fill the seat, so why not you? I’m not from a sporty, or extremely affluent family (I’ve noticed rowing is still a very wealthy sport in many areas of the world). My family worked really hard to get me these opportunities. There are a lot of reasons why you can’t do something, but ultimately, why not you? There is always a way for you to be able to do something if you really want it, or at least be able to create a silver lining out of the situation you may find yourself The second is that I make a lot of mistakes, and I fail a lot, but I still show up. I’m a perfectionist, and I’ve had to work on over the years. I’ve realized, I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to do my best. Failure is not failure if you refuse to let it remain so. I think SCRC is a special place for rowing, and we all have to actively work to keep it like that. I have a faint memory of when Jean Chretien came to St. Catharines for the 1999 Worlds. I didn’t even know what rowing was at the time, but I have this strong feeling of hometown pride from that event. It’s exciting to think that a new generation is going to experience that in this decade. There’s the mega Worlds in 2024, and the Canada Games in 2022. These are amazing events and the more people that are engaged that aren’t directly tied to the club, the better. Mayor Walter Sendzyk is doing such a great job, and I hope the club continues in this positive direction. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the St. Catharines Rowing Club and Sir Winston Churchill, they did so much for me.   AuthorLauren Kelly is a junior at the University of Notre Dame, where she competes on the rowing team and majors in history and Irish studies. A long time member of the St. Catharines Rowing Club, she recently stepped into the role of social media coordinator for the club. St. Catharines Rowing Club presents A Conversation with Wendy Wiebe
 LK: It seems as though it took little time for your rowing career to be headed in the right direction, with your four gold medals at CSSRA. While you were obviously successful early on, what were the biggest motivating factors in your decision to pursue international competition? WW: It was just little steps that continued to open doors. The biggest thing about rowing is that you can measure your success by how training is going; not always how racing is going because it depends on how everyone else is doing with that, but it just kind of happened by accident, at the beginning at least. With history too, when I started rowing, Canada was not a rowing powerhouse. These things happened step by step over time. When I started rowing with the National Team, the goal was to make the final. It didn’t even feel like it was in the realm of possibility to win when I started. But that all kind of happened over time. So really, it was just a process that had to be taken step by step. I trained mostly with boys: Dave Boyes, Peter Somerwil, and we all fed off each other. There were plans at the end of my career, but it felt like it just kind of happened by chance. You know what it’s like, you get to the end of the season and think you’re never doing it again and then you’re right back at it a month again. I was in the right era too, because in 1984, the lightweight women had an exhibition race at the Worlds, and then it was ushered in more permanently after that. I started sculling after I got married, and then the opportunity for the Olympics added another three years to the schedule. So really, it was just a lot of luck and being surrounded by good people. LK: It’s really interesting, because of everyone I have spoken with, no one said they were intent on going to the Olympics, but rather, that they took care of all the little things, and it fell into place, and your statement really just reaffirmed that sentiment! What was your experience with the St. Catharines Rowing Club? WW: I had a great time. The last five years of my competitive career I wasn’t training very much at St. Catharines, but it has, and will, always be home. I always say you can take the girl out of St. Catharines, but you can’t take the St. Catharines out of the girl; it’s home to me. I just have amazing memories of rowing in the summer there, we just had so much fun. It was what I wanted to do every summer. SCRC holds a very special place in my heart. I just started up there again after 10 or 15 years, and it doesn’t feel like I ever left. LK: It really is such a special place. I always find that when I come home from university, I feel the emotional reconnection when I see my family, but when I drive down Main Street in Port Dalhousie, that’s when I feel like I’m geographically home. How did rowing play a part in your post-secondary education and career? WW: I rowed at University of Western, in the heavyweight boat, but I was always a lightweight. When I finished university, I kept rowing. I was always a sweeper. I came back to St. Catharines and got married the year I graduated. But at the time, if you didn’t own a single, then you didn’t scull. I was having trouble finding people to row with, so in ‘87, I rowed in the lightweight four. When I came back, I didn’t have anyone to row with, so I bought a single to keep training in, while I was working full time and married. I had to borrow money from my dad to buy the single, I had never sculled before, and my husband pushed me off the dock and I was bawling! I started training with the St. Catharines group and went from there. After 3 years, in 1990, I started rowing in the double. In 1992, I quit my full time job to row full time. We won a bronze at ‘93 Worlds, and that was when I started to leave home more and train with the National Team LK: To continue off of that, what was the process like for you with the National Team, given the numerous times you dominated the podium? WW: I did start working full time from 87-92, and around that time, Mike Spracklen came in and reinvented rowing in Canada at the highest level. I was only doing 2 sessions a day, by myself; I resisted doing 3 times a day because I was working, I was married, but I kept coming in third place. At that time, there were rumblings that a lightweight double was going to happen for the Worlds, and so I thought that if I was going to do it, I had to fully pursue it and stop making excuses. So I relocated, and started training with the National Team. I finally gave in, and it was the right decision, it made all the difference. That summer was when we won our first world championship. I had to put my career on hold, but that’s ok, it was the right thing to do for me. The national team is really the same thing as club, at its barest of examinations. You’re jumping through hoops and doing what they tell you to do. One of the reasons Canada became so successful because of the incredibly competitive training environment. It would be everyone, all in singles, just going up and down the course everyday, really doing a “battle paddle”. Twice a week, we would have rated pieces; I think on Wednesdays would be a 5k piece, and they would compare it with the Gold Medal Standard. So we would know who the fastest one on the team was every week. If you were having a bad day, someone who was having a good day would drag you along. It was an awesome, grueling atmosphere.
Images from The St. Catharines Rowing Club: 100 Years in a Row, Stan Lapinski LK: I’m sure you learned so many lessons that are applicable to outside life in that environment. WW: Absolutely, you learn how to work with people, what to do when you get shot down. How to win and lose with grace. That’s what I find so upsetting about this era of COVID, how many people we have lost. Not even at the national team, but the grade nine’s, the grade 12’s, they’ve lost such great times in their lives for competition. It’s a very sad time for rowing. LK: In the 1996 Olympic Games, you came down with a terrible flu virus the week before the race, and still managed to finish seventh. What did that experience teach you? What did you do to pull yourself through that race? WW: That was awful. But I didn’t know if it was nerves, or what leading up to the event. Truly a terrible experience, it felt like I was rowing through mud. To be at your best and to lose is one thing, but to not be able to perform at your best is something else. But, through that, though, I learned that the same people that loved me when I was going fast still loved me when I wasn’t. I had great teammates. I got emails from people from all different times of my life demonstrating support. It was also the end of my career. So not only was I done rowing, but it wasn’t a great ending to that time in my life. But I think that things happen for a reason; I learned that the people who I surrounded myself with demonstrated that they were in my corner no matter what.
Wendy Wiebe and Colleen Miller at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. (CP PHOTOS/ COA/ Claus Andersen)
LK: What do you make of your legacy as one of the most decorated rowers in Canadian history?
 AuthorLauren Kelly is a junior at the University of Notre Dame, where she competes on the rowing team and majors in history and Irish studies. A long time member of the St. Catharines Rowing Club, she recently stepped into the role of social media coordinator for the club. The St. Catharines Rowing Club Presents: A Conversation with Andy Van Ruyven and Brian Dick
 LK: How were you introduced to rowing? BD: Both Andy and I were born and raised in St. Catharines; and when you go through the high school system here and it’s impossible to not be exposed to rowing. I had a little more family history of rowing than Andy; my grandfather was a rowing coach, my uncle rowed in the 1960 Olympics, my father was the captain of the St. Catharines Rowing Club as well as my mother, who many years ago, was in the first ladies’ crew to row at Henley, so it was just ubiquitous. Whenever you are in St. Catharines, you are just exposed to rowing. As time went on, both Andy and I were tall, skinny, gangly kids, and I tried a lot of sports growing up; I was a jock from the word go. When I had to choose between hockey, basketball or rowing, it was rowing that won hands down. Given my nurturing, and my nature. "But I remember sitting on Canal Street looking over the Henley course from a very young age and I was just amazed by the beauty of the sport. And I remember thinking somewhere, someday, whenever I’m old enough, I’m going to do this sport." ~Andy Van Ruyven AVR: I wasn’t really introduced to it as much as I grabbed the bull by the horns. I was the third oldest of nine kids to hardworking Dutch immigrant parents. Other than working, they didn’t have any appreciation for sport whatsoever. But I remember sitting on Canal Street looking over the Henley course from a very young age and I was just amazed by the beauty of the sport. And I remember thinking somewhere, someday, whenever I’m old enough, I’m going to do this sport. So when high school came around, high school rowing was the first thing we could do. I, like Brian, was doing basketball and track, and working, but when it came down to it, in grade nine, there was no question as to whether I would try out for the rowing team. Brian’s uncle was actually my first coach at Denis Morris High School. I’ll never forget that because my father had an expectation that we would work on the farm on the weekends, I had to miss the first practice on a Saturday. But on Sunday I was able to attend, so we went down to the old rowing club, across the street from where the legion and the old rubber factory is. We put the boat in the water, but I had missed the tutorial of how to get in the boat. So, despite the fact that there was the warning “do not step here” stenciled onto the bottom of the boat, I didn’t know where else to step! So I put my foot right there that no sooner had I done that then the boat started to crack. So then Bill Dick, Brian’s uncle, grabs me by the scruff of my neck and chastises me vehemently for almost breaking the boat! I had every reason to quit rowing right then and there, but as soon as we got on the water, it was too late for that. The feeling of it all, the fluidity, the rhythmic nature. From then on, I didn’t want to do anything else except row. LK: It really is incredible to think about where we are as rowers, geographically. I think you both echoed that sentiment quite well that this is a special place to row. Just as you both did, I learned to row on the Henley, and just sort of assumed that the quality of the course, the volume of participation, and the caliber of coaches was the norm. But in reality, the St. Catharines Rowing Club is a very special place that we are geographically quite lucky to have as our home course. With that being said, what was your experience with the St. Catharines Rowing Club? "Once I had committed to the St. Catharines Rowing Club, I had no excuse to fail. They provided me with everything I needed to succeed: equipment, coaching, the course." ~Brian Dick BD: My introduction to SCRC club rowing was three years after the incident at my first practice when I almost broke the boat. Back then, you would row for your high school, graduate and then start rowing for the club. There were lots of other things to do in the summer during high school. And I should mention that up until that point, I hadn’t had a lot of success rowing; I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed that early every morning if I didn’t enjoy the sport and the people. But it wasn’t until my final year of high school that I won a race at CSSRA. By then, I had put on a couple pounds of muscle, and was becoming more of a heavy weight. There were people now, including my father, encouraging me to try the club program. But that first year, I never made the boat I was hoping to get in. So instead I was put in a pair, in which many guys didn’t last long due to frustration and would quit. But instead of quitting, my partner and I won Henley that summer! So what could have been the end of my rowing career, was really a blessing in disguise because it opened all these doors to small boat training and racing. I had a newfound confidence after that, and I got recognized by other coaches shortly after that. Once I had committed to the St. Catharines Rowing Club, I had no excuse to fail. They provided me with everything I needed to succeed: equipment, coaching, the course. At this point, Andy and I had barely crossed paths, but we didn’t start rowing together until 1970. But, actually, I haven’t heard Andy’s introduction to the club, so I’m looking forward to hearing it. AVR: I was 135lb when I was in grade 9, but the following year, I had to make weight, even though I had a growth spurt. I was just totally not fit to row 135lbs anymore. So then I put on muscle and started to row heavyweight. That summer, Jack Nicholson had noticed me for some reason and recruited me to row summer. But I didn’t know if I would be able to because of work obligations. But I tried to make it work, that was the summer of 1969, when the Canada Games were in Halifax. I was in the 8+, and we won! So now I suddenly had some visibility. The next year, the world rowing championships were in St. Catharines, and honestly my timing was pretty perfect because the national team was rebuilding at this point. So they took a chance on me and I rowed in a pair. It was in St. Catharines, I got my first track suit and walked in the opening ceremonies through Montebello Park. Now, we came dead last in everything, but it was a learning opportunity for all of us. The next year was the Pan Am Games in Calì, Valle del Cauca and I rowed in the 4- there when we came 4th. We were still rebuilding at that point. But then the next year was the Olympics, where I rowed in a 4+ with Rick Crooker, coached by Stan Murdza. We also went to Henley Royal in England that year, where we won the Prince Phillip Challenge Cup, as the first Canadian Crew to have won that event. LK: So many incredible experiences! Did you ever draw upon your experiences as an athlete to help you in another area of your life? AVR: I was a really shy kid growing up, and am still an introvert. Even though I was good at sports, I was never “that guy”. But what rowing allowed me to do was to learn some skills, and in turn gain confidence, and once you get recognized, it’s easy to feel like you can add value to a team. I was a business exec for most of my life, and when I was working in sales, persistence was the key, much like rowing. You have to keep trying when things get tough, and keep working when you’re turned down. Rowing was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and because I did it, I can enter into almost any situation with confidence that it will be achieved, because I did much more difficult things when I was rowing. I used to coach kids at the Deep Cove rowing club in British Columbia, where I live now, and I would tell them, ‘whether you never row another stroke after this season, or the end of high school, or college, the fact that you’re getting up at 5am everyday to go out in cold, wet weather with blistered hands and tired muscles demonstrates that you have the foundation to be an exceptional human being’. BD: I completely agree with Andy. Sport is just a microcosm of life. If you continuously strive for success, or try to reach for the podium in life and sport, you are bound to be successful. LK: Were there any opportunities made available to you specifically because of your athletic career? AVR: Education wasn’t of the utmost importance in my family; the general expectation was to go school, get a job, get married, have kids and that’s it. But rowing allowed me to go to university and as a carded athlete, I was able to pay my tuition at Western. Had I never rowed, I shudder to think of what my life would have been like. BD: I can’t say there was one specific individual that changed my life, who I only would have met through rowing, but this sport got us out of our middle class existence. We didn’t follow our family’s footsteps in the world of work, but Andy and I were able to realize that there were choices and paths we didn’t know existed. When you’re jumping in a boat with Rhodes Scholars, and you just spent a summer in Europe, not just rowing and training, but also experiencing the culture, getting a broader perspective on life, you realize how big this world is. Lots of individuals helped along the way, but it was that big experience of being exposed to the world and other aspects of life.
LK: I’d like to talk a bit about your Olympic experiences. The Montreal Olympics were the first games to have Women’s Rowing, and the women’s team from that year was just inducted into the Rowing Canada Hall of Fame. Since you both had a close view of this moment in sport history, what was it like to watch this happening in addition to the general rarity of being an Olympian, and on the home team? AVR: Certainly, I can honestly say that the first time women were there for the first time didn’t register to me too much, other than that it was long overdue. The fact that it happened in Canada is a great thing for our national sport history, though. As far as rowing in the Olympics, I think back to Natalie (Mastracci’s) article in which she said, ‘you don’t row to go to the Olympics’. And I can honestly say that from the time that I started rowing, it wasn’t my focus. All I wanted to do when I got in that boat was to be the best athlete and rower I could be. And I remember all the years of rowing, I wanted to go one practice without a coach telling me to change or improve something. I think that happened three times. Our 4- was a group of total sticklers for detail that it was an absolute joy and pleasure to have been in that boat. If you do all the little things right, the big things take care of themselves. LK: My final question for you both is in regards to what advice you would give to certain groups of athletes. First off, what would you say to kids who have never rowed before and are interested in taking it up. AVR: There is no other sport like rowing. There are countless tales about the healing power of water, and it is absolutely true. You forget about everything else while you’re on the water, it’s just you, your oar, and making the boat go fast. It’s probably not for everybody, but if you want a unique experience, this is the one for you. LK: When I think of the uniqueness of this sport, the swans come to mind. There’s not many other sports where it’s 5am on a still body of water, and 5ft away from you is a swan. And he just makes eye contact with you; you two just co-exist on this body of water! BD: Absolutely! You know, even just to experience rowing recreationally, is an opportunity. That would be my advice to anyone who wants to try it, just to do it recreationally at the very least. LK: That’s a great plug for our Learn to Row program, Brian! That was how I got started, I was 12 years old, with no prior experience in the sport, it facilitated a great introduction to rowing. What advice do you have for high school athletes? BD: Don’t worry about the results, just enjoy the experience and learn the lessons you will carry with you for the rest of your life. AVR: I know it may seem too early for teenagers to think about character development, but it really is a perfect opportunity to learn how to push yourself. Take what you learned from the sport and translate them into the life skills you need. There’s not a single wasted thing you can do in sport. If you can recognize while you’re in the boat, “look, I know this is uncomfortable right now, but I can use these things later on. Unfortunately, people who don’t get involved in sport typically don’t have the same capacity to do that to the same level. I would take a good athlete and mentor them to success much easier than anyone else. Sport is such a great outlet for mental health as well. This is such a stressful time, and sport is such a great educator for a young person to learn how to cope with all the difficult things they may come across in life. AuthorLauren Kelly is a junior at the University of Notre Dame, where she competes on the rowing team and majors in history and Irish studies. A long time member of the St. Catharines Rowing Club, she recently stepped into the role of social media coordinator for the club. |
