Athletic trio from Niagara will be Czech mates

Two Brock rowers, one from Ridley Graduate Boat Club are competing for Canada at world U23 championships

Two athletes who competed for Brock at the university level and another who rowed in Niagara at the club level have been selected to represent Canada at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships next month in the Czech Republic.

Regina Rowing Club member Thomas Markewich will compete in the lightweight men’s double, while his Brock teammate, Sam Stewart, qualified in the men’s double. Stewart rows for the London Rowing Club.

Brock head coach Peter Somerwil said Markewich and Stewart overcame 18 months of COVID-19 obstacles by working hard and staying focused on their training.

Keeping his eye on the prize served Stewart well off the water, as well, this year.

In February, the third-year history student won a gold medal at the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships, despite not being able to see any of his competitors.

Normally held inside an Ontario Hockey League arena in Mississauga, the competition this year was done virtually because of the pandemic.

Stewart went on to finish seventh in the men’s under-23 final at the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships two weeks later.

Chuck Mcdiarmid, the lead for Rowing Canada Aviron’s Nextgen development program, also praised the athletes for their work ethic heading into the selection process.

“Our Nextgen athletes have demonstrated their determination and perseverance through their training over the past year, and we are looking forward to seeing them in action on the water,” he said.

“It’s exciting to be returning to international racing.”

Steven Rosts, a Ridley Graduate Boat Club member from Jordan, will row for Canada in the men’s single following his senior year at the University of Washington.

The graduate of Eden High School in St. Catharines was in the stroke seat in the second varsity eight that won the gold for Washington at both the Pac-12 Conference and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships this year.

Eight crews — four men’s, four women’s — will carry Canada’s medal hopes on their shoulders at the under-23 worlds taking place July 7-11 in Racice.