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Hello everyone! It was 2011 when I was last here working with the Saskatchewan Rowing
Association so there are likely many of you that don’t know much about me or from where I’m
coming. So as an introduction and a place to start, let me tell you a bit about where I’ve been
and what I’ve been doing.
My start with Rowing Canada Aviron was in April of 2011. Initially my role was Lead Coach for
the newly established National Development Centre in Burnaby, BC. The NDC was tasked with
helping young men and women that had the potential and desire to row for Canada hit the
standards that would get them invited to our National Training Centres in Victoria and London.
With the Olympics in 2012, there wasn’t much of an observable impact immediately but I’m
happy to say that from 2013 onwards, athletes from the NDC-BC became valuable members of
these national training environments and contributed to numerous podium performances for
Canada at international events.
In 2015, I was asked to take on the Para Program for Canada and guide the PR3 4+ to and
through the Rio Paralympic Games. The 4+ brought home a bronze medal for Canada, the first
medal for Canada in rowing at the Paralympic games. I stayed with the Para program and
enjoyed some great success through Tokyo. With a shift in coaching assignments after Tokyo, I
was back to helping all athletes at the NTC improve and perform at the highest level. Most
recently I was working predominantly with the men’s sculling program.
Prior to joining RCA in 2011, I was here in Saskatchewan in 2005 and again from 2007 to 2011,
coaching for the Regina Rowing Club and SRA respectively. Prior to THAT I was in St. Louis, MO,
and St. Catharines, ON coaching club and university programs in both the US and Canada. My
involvement with rowing as an athlete and coach started here in Saskatchewan with the Regina
Rowing Club in 1992.
This is very much a homecoming for me and I’m very happy and excited to be here. Over the
next little while I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with those I’ve known for a long
time while getting to know many of you for the first time. I’m looking forward to becoming
more familiar with where we are as an organization. As that familiarity grows, I’ll be working
with you to grow our sport and support improving performances. I’m looking forward to
working in the province again…looking forward and bringing what I’ve learned to you. One
thing I can say with certainty is that there’s nothing magic in the water elsewhere and little that
can’t be accomplished right here.
Of course, one way for me to get to know the athletic side of you is to see the results come in
from the SRA Erg Series that’s well underway. Seeing you progress through this series gives us
some information that helps clarify where we are and what we need to do to move forward.
This will all build toward the Saskatchewan Indoor Rowing Championships (SIRC) in March. It
will be great to meet you in person and see you race.
John Wetzstein
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