A recent grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) made it possible for the BRC to upgrade its aging fleet of coach boats earlier this year.
As the national rowing programs shifts toward smaller boats as a tool for skills development, clubs have had to retool. We’ve leveraged the OTF grant to purchase more small boats — an investment that paid off this year especially as COVID-19 protocols limited our rowers to smaller boats. But the change goes beyond just racing shells.
With more boats on the water, our coaches have a lot more responsibility. The grant enabled us to update our safety boats, which are manned by coaches during on-water training sessions. The five new boats are larger for increased safety — they are much more stable should there ever be a need to move athletes from a boat or the water. They also feature forward-facing seats and steering, which is a great improvement for some of our more “seasoned” coaches!
The boats modernize the BRC’s fleet of 25-years old aluminum boats. The new ones are much more reliable and feature four stroke engines which are more environmentally friendly. The OTF funds also covered the cost of three boat lifts, so the largest boats can stay in the water, making more room in the boathouse for the new racing shells.
The BRC thanks the OTF, an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, for the funding to make these capital investments possible.
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