Sask. rowing recognized at national level

A spotlight has been put on Saskatchewan rowing and the work its coaches and volunteers have done over the past year.

Canada Rowing named David Ukrainetz its 2022 Volunteer of the Year and Andrew Knorr its 2022 Coach of the Year.

The pair – both from Saskatoon – were recognized at the National Rowing Conference in Victoria, B.C. at the end of January.

While Ukrainetz was named top volunteer, he quickly shared the credit with everyone involved with the sport around the province.

“The award represented national recognition of the great things happening in Saskatchewan,” Ukrainetz said.

Ukrainetz currently serves as director and vice-president of the Saskatoon Rowing Club after picking up the sport 10 years ago.

“We have a great group of volunteers,” he said. “We have great programming, great coaching (and) great management with our club.”

Knorr is the high-performance coach for Saskatchewan Rowing, and works with athletes at all stages of their careers, from the junior to masters levels.

The success some of his athletes have had over the past year helped Knorr clinch the award as top coach.

At the 2022 Canada Summer Games, Saskatchewan rowers came away with five medals. Ukrainetz said the province punches above its weight in the rowing world, but even though Saskatchewan rowers are seeing success there are still some challenges when it comes to growing the sport.

“The major drawback is obviously the -30 C weather here in Saskatchewan,” he said with a smirk.

The rowers are getting around the weather, however, with some developed training facilities at Victoria Park which allow for indoor rowing training during the winter months.

“That’s one of the things the sport is focusing on right now is developing indoor rowing, kind of as an offshoot of the sport,” Ukrainetz explained.

“We’ll spend six months training on indoor rowing machines throughout the winter months, but we still have that same kind of coaching and instruction when we’re not on the water.”

There are some other ways the club is trying to attract people to the sport, even if they’ve never had experience in a rowing shell. The club is offering a two-week learn-to-row program throughout the summer and is also bringing back “rowga” – a combination of rowing and yoga.

But even though it’s not possible to row on the South Saskatchewan River during the winter months, Ukrainetz said the amount of resources and programs in Saskatchewan keeps attracting new athletes to the sport.

The rowing club – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – opened a new dock last year, which is more accessible for the club’s para-athletes.

But Ukrainetz said what keeps him involved in the sport after a decade is the enjoyment of being out on the river during the summer.

“It’s amazing when you actually are able to experience the city from the water. We have the bridges and downtown and it’s such a beautiful, amazing environment to be on the water,” Ukrainetz said.

The rowing season on the river begins around the end of April and wraps around mid-October.