Overview
In 2024, the Carleton Ravens Varsity Rowing Team had another successful season, medaling at almost every regatta they attended! Once again our competed internationally at the Head of The Charles Regatta. The team will be saying goodbye to many graduating athletes this year, and the remaining members are looking to continue the team’s success and momentum. The future is bright for the Ravens Rowing varsity team. Our novice team consisted of over 35 members which is one of the highest turnouts the team has ever had. We look forward to seeing them continue their training and filling the shoes of our graduating athletes. Thanks to the money raised in previous years, many of our crews have competed at competitions in our 2 Ravens-branded boats, the Prophecy and the Corax!
However, unlike some of our competitors, the team receives little university funding and relies on Giving Tuesday donations to fund the team and keep us afloat. On Tuesday, December 3rd the university matches your donations dollar for dollar up to donations of $5000. Our rowing team is fortunate to train out of one of the biggest and oldest rowing clubs in Canada, our very own Ottawa Rowing Club. Due to the club’s size and age, our team must share equipment with other rowing programs at the club, and thus we are limited to using certain equipment on certain days of the week.
Unlike many universities and teams at Carleton, our coaches are all volunteers. They commit countless hours of their week to coach and train us in addition to their busy jobs and lives. Every week, Monday through Saturday they are at the boathouse with us at 5 a.m., helping us become faster rowers. They put many hours of their time and sacrifice sleep and their free time to coach us. They create and submit race entries, sacrifice weekends to come to competitions, and mentor us, all while not getting paid a single penny to do so.
The Rollout
With your help, the Ravens Rowing team can continue to expand our fleet so that we can minimize the amount of shared equipment we must use. We hope to become a more independent team that can train with our own equipment every day of the week. As our funding will allow, we are looking to maintain our oar inventory. Additionally, some funds may be allocated to support the team’s budget to help mitigate fee increases that the student-athletes must absorb. Due to the intense training volume and academic commitments, the athletes have little time to take on part-time jobs and work during the school year. Any donations are greatly appreciated and to our long-time donors, we greatly appreciate your continued support. Without your donations, we would not have the equipment we do now and so we truly thank you.