Rustlers Recap 2026: Rowing

Major wins:

Three: Two for the Novice Women's 8+ and one for the Novice Women's A Quad

Team Awards:

Rustler Crew Award Winners: Martina Zumbuehl, Grace Bilecki and Grace Churchill

Rookie of the Year: Alyssa Purdy

Most Improved: Derek Campbell

Most Valuable Rower: Grace Churchill

Departing Athletes:

Six

Year in Review:

Rowing had another solid season out on the boats. The 13 student athletes competed across Alberta and Saskatchewan placed well in several events against university teams. Some of the stops included the Dino Sprints at the Calgary Rowing Club, the Bulrush Stakes at the Leduc Boat Club and their own Rustler Time Trials at the Lakeland Rowing Club in Vermilion.

The most successful grouping was their Novice Women's 8+, who won gold in Calgary and Leduc, winning the former by .3 seconds. The Novice Women's A quad also won their event in Leduc and their Women's Double finished second to the University of Calgary in Leduc.

"As far as the season went, I think the success of our novice women's 8 on the water in the fall is what we will look back on and hope to build on going into next year," Coach Peter Walsh said.

In the winter, the rowers all participated in the Indoor Rowing Championships, performed on machines. Each rower had a goal for target time pre-race and all but one exceeded their mark. A few fourth place finishes and a fifth place finish was the best for the group, the coaches participated in the masters category and had two top four finishes.

Walsh said the group was largely satisfied but realized there was room for improvement.

"We had a number of rowers who have never raced on the ergs before and a 2K on the erg is one of the most grueling physical exertions that rowers do off the water," he said. "However, we needed to raise the bar in our training to get back into those top 3 positions."

"I was also using it as a gauge for progress in a couple of lightweight rowers that I have who have their sights set on qualifying for the national champs next fall. So, now they know how much work they need to do over the summer

Next year, the team will lose six rowers but have a solid foundation to build on and anticipate multiple new rowers will make an impact.