Students form rowing group, with eyes on making it official

Chelsea Minkovich (left), and Richard Reis (right) at practice for the George Brown rowing club. Photo Steve Cornwell / The Dialog

A late start, torn down posters, and a desire to get on the water. After a few bumps in the road, George Brown College (GBC) students are looking to wade into the waters of rowing, first to get better, then to compete.

The group members classify themselves as beginners. But at a practice session—one of three the group runs each week—Chelsea Minkovich and Richard Reis each hint at rowing being in their blood.

“My father used to do it when I was younger,” said Reis. “I always had this water aspect in my life.”

Likewise, Minkovich said water sports are a kind of family tradition. For each, joining a club for rowing at George Brown seemed to be a natural step.

The warm sun, calm atmosphere, and placid waves at the Argonaut Rowing Club, where the club trains, hide the somewhat rocky beginning for the group.

Antoine De Vuyst, the captain of the emerging team, is working on establishing the club at George Brown. He acknowledges that the organizing effort started late and with colder weather looming, the window for training on the water is getting smaller.

There was also the matter of the posters.

“We didn’t get permission to put them up from the Student Association (SA),” said De Vuyst—so the posters were torn down.

De Vuyst regrets creating work for the SA staff who had to take the posters down, but said, “we just went for it because time was running out in the rowing season.”

While the group is not officially a SA club, which needs to have at least 10 members to be recognized, De Vuyst said the initiative has garnered a lot interest.

“The focus right now is on learning to row” said De Vuyst. But in the future, the plan is to build teams for competition.

For more information on the rowing club, contact Eva Almeida atgeorgebrownrowing@gmail.com