Hatchets Rowing Centre

08/23/2026

This was yesterday’s competitive rowing session. It was Friday fun-day, which sometimes means tough strength and conditioning, sometimes yoga, sometimes ridiculous maneuvering and sometimes a mix. Today, being the last day, we played - we did some of our juniors scullers activities. We started with the usual warmup and starts practice, but then we did some turning racing, some rubber duck collecting, and some water lily picking.

We love rowing, but mostly what it brings to us and our rowers. It gives us a chance to push ourselves, to quiet our brains, to have both a solo and group experience all at once and to be immersed in nature.

What I especially love as the years go by is watching how, when rowing is introduced as fun movement, and rowers are constantly reminded that competition is for the joy of pushing yourself, not for the result, that instead of athletes that burn themselves out and then never want to do the sport again, they return over and over to row and to coach and we continually get to share conversations contemplating sport and activity in our lives. Thank you to all of the rowers that have shared this journey with us as we all learn.

08/20/2026

A few of our junior scullers today! Our junior scullers program starts at 8 years old - and within a couple sessions they are flying around on the water - we LOVE it! We’ve had the best time this year as our young rowers move through our 6 level program at no set pace or expectation and while playing so many games they don’t really realize how competent they are becoming.

Tomorrow is our last day of summer rowing, and we’re already planning for next year.

08/20/2026

One of the side benefits (or main purposes!) of rowing is seeing nature close up as you are gliding through the water. All season long we see this loon family daily. We see the mother nesting and the father protecting the location, and then the baby on the back of the parents, and then the little fluff ball bouncing around beside the parents, and then slowly as they grow we watch a whole series of learning to dive and calling activities, sometimes a bit too close for OUR comfort!! Now the babies have grown, and although still in their juvenile colours/feathers, they are usually not right with parents anymore as their independence grows. We are so lucky to see this transition. This year there are two babies who have made it through.

The photo of the loon was taken by one of our coaches, Robin, while out with one of our favourite rowing families who have been coming with their kids since they were much younger.

08/14/2026

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER!

Why? For updates on rowing times. For technique tips. To see great pictures, accomplishments and updates on our rowers. Because it’s coming directly from@me to you - not in your news feed!

For those new to Hatchets this year, most of the info we send out is through newsletters. We do a weekly (if we can) newsletter in the summer and just a few updates during the year.

To join - go to HatchetsRowing.com and go to the NEWS > Hatchets News page and subscribe!

08/14/2026

Injury prevention is a big topic at this time of year. Everyone is training hard and feeling faster, but it’s important to remember we have to balance our training with giving our bodies a chance to recover. These are some tips for technique and activities to stay injury free while training (in the picture). Added to this make sure you are thinking about taking time for recovery: REST TIME! Your body and your brain need it. Everyone is different, but we tell our kids and rowers they should be taking a rest day each week, a rest week each training cycle (2-3 months ish), and a month every year that is “active recovery”, meaning no schedule, no tracking training, just resting, playing, and doing activities that feel fun and unregimented to give your mind and body a break. Only one more week of summer rowing for Hatchets!!

08/09/2026

07/30/2026

Hatchets Leaderboard Update - Sarah you are beating me (Kathy) by 1km!!! It’s super fun doing this every year, just for the fun of tracking. Let me know if you need a spreadsheet to track your kms. Sarah Lehman Cheryl Hollows Laurie McNairn Campbell Lily Baker Jack Hollands Robin Fowler Mary Beth Grant

06/30/2026

Week 1 Focus! Safety! This is such an easy one to do - and so important. I always tell our rowers - assume no one can see you! The biggest danger while you are on the water rowing or paddling is other boats. The water is warm, we know how to swim, the boat is big and it floats, we just have to avoid other boats. So - how do we do this. 1. If you do flip, stay with the boat. It’s big, it’s visible, it floats. 2 Be visible! Wear bright clothing and hat. If you think a boat is coming anywhere near close to you and doesn’t see you, make sure they do. Wave your hand, wave the bright orange life jacket, get their attention. You’ll see the boat change course when they’ve seen you - and then keep watching to make sure. 3. Stay where other boats don’t go. If you’re close enough to shore, a motorboat is not going to want to be that close to shore. If you cut across an open space, try to be off the main path. For instance - going across mirror lake, move over out of the main path before you go straight across. Stay close to your starboard shore when going along the river. Stay safe and enjoy the beautiful water!!💦

06/29/2026