Making history at Henley
From humble beginnings in 2012 on a ramshackle dock in the backyard of Wernher Verbraeken’s Lyon’s Creek Road home, the Niagara Falls Rowing Club has made its way to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta this year.
“We started with 10 athletes, then it became 25, the next year it was 75 and last year we had 125 members,” coach Tony Arcuri said.
This year, the club had nine athletes competing at various Central Ontario Rowing Association events, including the Ontario championships, and has seven entries at this year’s Henley regatta.
“The younger group has come to us and said they want to compete and that’s what we premised our rowing club on – what our members want,” Verbraeken said. “Instead of creating programs of our own interests, and trying to find athletes to fill them, we let our athletes and membership decide which programs we create.”
A competitive program is something the young rowers wanted desperately.
“You have to have that inspiration,” rower Hannah Bray said.
The club’s under-17 women have won medals at almost every regatta they have entered, including a bronze medal in the quad at the Ontario championships. Wernher Verbraeken
“That is really great for our first season,” Verbraeken said.
Niagara Falls’ under-23 rowers are former high school rowers and are still trying to find their groove after a couple of years away from the sport.
The younger rowers are obviously the competitive future of the club.
“With this under-17 group, we are really developing a base that won’t only row on its own, but hopefully attract other rowers to our club and we will be able to build a base to medal from,” Verbraeken said.
The club’s entries at Henley include an under-19 men’s single, an under-23 lightweight women’s single, two boats in under-17 women’s double, an under-23 men’s lightweight single, an under-17 women’s quad and an under-17 women’s single.
Arcuri feels the club is pretty close to having a Niagara Falls Rowing Club member stand atop the podium at Canadian Henley.
“We have made the semifinals already this year in the double, and we will see what happens,” Arcuri said. “This year, we might not be on that Henley podium, but it could be next year or the year after.”
Most of the pieces are in place to make that happen at the club’s new facility and boathouse at George Bukator Park along the Chippawa Parkway in Niagara Falls.
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The younger group has come to us and said they want to compete and that’s what we premised our rowing club on – what our members want. Instead of creating programs of our own interests, and trying to find athletes to fill them, we let our athletes and membership decide which programs we create.”
“It’s a matter of getting the right athletes involved,” Arcuri said. “We have the training program and the racing equipment on place.”
Bray, a 16-year-old Saint Michael student, is a member of the quad. She is thrilled to be part of the first Niagara Falls Rowing Club’s crews competing at Henley.
“It’s exciting that we are starting off what it is going to be like in future years,” she said.
Bray also raced in the double and was thinking about the historical significance of her race in the starting gate Tuesday.
“You are trying your best to make your club proud and make a name for yourselves,” Bray said.
Katerina Verbraeken, a Grade 11 student at Saint Michael and a member of the quad, loves being a trailblazer.
“For such a small club, we are doing well and getting the word out,” she said.
Wernher Verbraeken made sure the club’s athletes knew they were making history.
“You play that card with the athletes a little bit to see if you can get them to step up a little bit,” he said. “Let’s see what we can do for the first time and not just be that Niagara Falls was there.”
“If we could make a final, it would be a great accomplishment for our club.”
The quad has made a lot of finals this summer.
“We focus a lot on training and technique and we try to make ourselves better every day,” Bray said.
It has also been a lot of hard of hard work.
“We haven’t missed one day of practice and the weather has been great,” Katerina Verbraeken said.
The club has received a nice reception at Henley Island this week.
“We’ve all grown out of Henley because we didn’t have a club of our own,” Wernher Verbraeken said. “It’s a bit of a reunion and everyone is really supportive of the whole idea of broadening the sport of rowing in the peninsula.”
In the club’s arsenal of equipment are three quads, one octet (eight with sculling riggers), three doubles, two coxed fours and a single trainer. The club is in the process of converting two eights donated by the Silver Lake Rowing Club into one.
“We have an equipment fund in place and we are hoping to add two more boats this winter,” Arcuri said.
The club’s goal are to double the amount of athletes competing in the competitive program next summer, get more high school rowers involved in training next spring and expand its adult recreational program.
You play that card with the athletes a little bit to see if you can get them to step up a little bit. Let’s see what we can do for the first time and not just be that Niagara Falls was there.” Wernher Verbraeken