The Nanaimo Rowing Club is looking forward to a new community space and boathouse project but in the meantime their athletes are in training mode with rowing sessions up to five days a week on Long Lake. (Dan Marshall/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Dan Marshall

On the Lake

Training, fundraising take precedence in winter months for Nanaimo Rowing Club

Dec 14, 2025 | 5:16 AM

NANAIMO — The future of rowing and paddling in the Harbour City seems very bright.

While Nanaimo city council has approved a gathering space, boat storage room, and public washroom facility at Loudon Park, rowing athletes are continuing to train even in the winter months.

The competition season extended into late October and training will be the primary focus until March.

Coach Richard Parr said Long Lake is a hub of activity most days of the week in December.

“We row Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons at 3:45 p.m. into the dark. All of the rowers have to have personal headlights on them. It is winter and it can be rainy and cold. We row those afternoons and Saturday at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. as well as Sunday at 9 a.m.”

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On top of that indoor rowing is a valuable exercise with sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Parr said there’s an indoor rowing competition coming up in February at Brentwood College in Victoria that Nanaimo club members will participate in.

Competitive athletes like Kiersten Mort, Laura McKenzie, Cameron Catton-Cox and Aimee and Ester Majurcin all.had very strong showings in 2025.

According to Parr there’s a good chance some Nanaimo rowers will be able to compete at a provincial or national level next year.

“At the moment we have a couple of athletes at U.S. colleges and Laura and Cam are headed to UVIC. This past summer we had Laura and Ester on the BC Provincial Team. Ester got a gold medal in the mixed 8’s at Canada Cup. Cam and Laura are young enough to go again next year for junior regattas.”

Those competitive athletes drive the Nanaimo Rowing Club but Parr would like to see more novice and recreational rowers coming out to Long Lake.

“We’d like to see more of Nanaimo coming out and row. We’ve got a great lake, a great sport and we’ve got a great atmosphere.”

Parr said the community boathouse project will be a came changer for the club and he’s looking forward to the changes that will bring.

“Boat wise we’re ok we have have some fairly decent boats and equipment. What we’re lacking is that really good base to have indoor training; For the community we’re excited that we have this great lake with a great park and this should be the crown jewel of the park which will give us a much better training environment.”

The Long Lake Flatwater Training Centre Society is currently undertaking a fundraising effort as part of the community boathouse project.

It was a huge boost to have Nanaimo council move forward with development plans and the group currently has raised 72 percent of their $100,000 goal that will help to move the community space and boathouse closer to reality.

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