The Nanaimo Rowing Club earned 10 medals at their first competition of the year,the Kraken Indoor Rowing Championships in Mill Bay. (Image Credit: Nanaimo Rowing Club)

By Dan Marshall

Medals on the Machine

Nanaimo Rowing Club bring home medals from indoor competition at Brentwood School

Feb 7, 2026 | 6:01 AM

NANAIMO — The first competition of 2026 for the Nanaimo Rowing Club was held indoors.

Sixteen athletes participated in the Kraken Indoor Rowing Championships at Brentwood School in Mill Bay.

Nanaimo club athletes earned seven gold medals, two silvers and one bronze, the most the NRC has ever won at the event.

“The athletes have been training well over the winter,” said coach Richard Parr. “Rowing is a sport where you have to put in the miles and I think over the past few weeks we’ve been doing that.”

The competitors used Concept II ergometers and could see their progress being displayed on a screen.

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“They have is a bunch of rowing machines at Brentwood and they connect them all via computers and there’s a big screen with a boat on it. As you start, your boat starts moving across the screen. Basically you can compare how fast you’re going by viewing the boat on the screen.”

All age groups were represented from novice to masters, including 10 athletes who were competing for the first time.

Parr said not everything translates from the machine to actual rowing but there are some important fundamentals that do.

“If you look at a couple of key components you’d say we’re doing pretty well, and that’s fitness and strength. There’s an on-water skill part that you don’t get but we’re really performing well in those other areas.”

NRC masters set the tone for the Brentwood competition by winning seven golds.

Sebastian Ackroyd took home wins in both the 50+ age group 1k and 2k races and Kiersten Mort won the women’s masters 1k, and followed that up a bronze in the open women’s 2k.

At their inaugural competition, Jeanine Hutton won the women’s 43+ age group while Valerian Denis got the win in the men’s 27+ category.

Established rower Shelley Cox picked up a gold in women’s 60+ competition and Isaac Morgan won the men’s 43+ division.

Junior Laura McKenzie pulled a personal best 7:27.9 capturing a silver medal.

It was a strong field with top contenders from both Brentwood and Vic City Rowing Club.

“My race went very well,” McKenzie said. “I don’t think I could have pushed any harder. I’m proud of the work I’ve put in everyday at practice. That gave me the confidence to do what I did. A big thanks to my club for supporting me so well.”

Rookie Ethan Richmond came fourth out of 44 entries in the U19 men’s event.

Cameron Catton-Cox also performed well and finished 8th.

U17 athletes Aimee Majercin and James Morrill posted strong results while UVIC and NRC members Ester Majercin and Zoe Cripps competed in a very tough field of the best university rowers.

Cripps finished with a silver medal in the coxswains 500 metre dash.

Coach Parr is looking forward to seeing what the Nanaimo contingent can do at their first outdoor competition in March.

“We have our first on-water regatta which is the Elk Lake Spring Regatta on March 7 and our whole squad will go. The biggest one for the juniors is the Brentwood School Regatta in late April.”

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