Youth rower Kade George, left, in the coach boat, looks on after his individual lesson from Lloydminster Rowing Club coach Shelby Lane, seated in the back of a doubles boat instructing Rayna Bender last week at Killarney Lake, Sask. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Lloydminster Rowing Club coach Shelby Lane is helping beginners take to rowing like a duck to water as she did years ago.
The high-performance rower, attached to the University of Saskatchewan, is heading up four-day camps at Killarney Lake, Sask., this summer to encourage newbies to give the sport a try.
“It’s good. We’ve had new rowers out every week,” said Lane at the lake last week.
“It’s good to get back to the basics from where I started; I started at the Lloyd rowing club.”
The trick with coaching she says is getting first-timers to come back by making it fun.
“That’s what I aim for,” said Lane, who teaches youth rowers and masters rowers age 23 and over Mondays to Thursdays.
“People come because they just like the water and they want to try a new sport, so I’m not pushing anything. I want them to have fun.”
That’s how 19-year-old Lloydminster teen Rayna Bender and 16-year-old Kade George from Marwayne described their initial experience under blue skies.
“It’s amazing out here,” said George, who was looking for a new sport.
“I’ve tried just about every sport there is and not a lot has always clicked for me. I’ve always loved water and I thought rowing might be it,” he explained.
The teen will attend Grade 11 at Brentwood College School on Vancouver Island this fall. The boarding school has a rowing program, so he thought he would jumpstart his training with lessons from Lane.
“The best part is just being on the water,” said George.
Bender, who is studying education at Lakeland College, was loving her time learning to row after having to give up volleyball due to a bad head injury.
“This is a sport where I can’t hit my head, so I’m trying it out. I love it so far,” she said.
On day one, she and George rowed together just to try it out, with mixed results.
“We had our ups and down for sure, but it’s only the first day, so of course, we have plenty to work on but we’ll figure it out,” said George at the boathouse.
Each got a separate lesson paired with Lane on the second day as one of them looked on from the coach motorboat driven by Lane’s mom, Lana.
Rowing is a family affair for the Lanes. Lana Lane often volunteers to run this coach boat on the water at Killarney Lake while her daughter, Shelby, coach of the Lloydminster Rowing Club, gives lessons to youth and adults. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
“It’ll be more one-on-one tonight and it’s helpful for the other athlete to just watch and view from a distance,” she said in her volunteer role.
“It’s fun to see more youth from Lloydminster out and about, trying it.”
The lesson with Lane in the same boat as the rowers proved to be a benchmark for how well they progressed in 24 hours and what they needed to learn.
George called it a “reality check” with Lane anchoring the doubles boat and talking technique.
“I could definitely tell the difference in power and skill because every paddle of mine was completely mismatched and hers were next to perfect on time,” he said.
The youth says he now knows how much more he has to work on to get better, noting a lot of rowing is in your head.
“It’s a lot more focus and skill and timing, more than just physical. To me, it seems a lot more mental than physical,” added George.
Bender said it was pretty tough to get the hang of on the first day, but noted Lane was really helpful in teaching the basics.
“We learned how to set up the boat and actually get moving on the water,” she said.
It got a little easier for her on the second day with Lane seated behind her in the boat.
“With Shelby in there, it’s more stable; easy to practise your strokes. Even in two days, I’ve improved a lot I think. It’s fun,” said Bender.
George also gave a shoutout to Lane as a coach.
“I’ve played a lot of sports and I’ve seen a lot of coaches and she’s probably one of the better ones as far as I can tell,” he said.
The try rowing camp costs $50 and from there, it’s just $200 for the summer with lessons starting at 5:30 p.m. for beginners.
The rowing fleet includes seven singles, two doubles and three quads.
“It’s growing,” said coach Lane.
