When a friend mentioned the rowing program at the University of British Columbia, Madelyn Vandermeer was intrigued.
The Acton native had competed in track and field in high school, but the idea of becoming a rower wasn’t completely foreign to her.
“I had actually first been introduced to the idea of rowing five years prior at a different RBC qualifying event,” said Vandermeer. “It hadn't worked out at the time, but it planted an idea that came to fruition when a friend mentioned UBC's Novice program last year.”
Vandermeer returned to the RBC Training Ground this year. Not surprisingly, she was again identified as having potential as a rower.
What came as a surprise was how much potential. Of the 2,500 athletes that participated in RBC Training Ground qualifying events across the country, Vandermeer placed among the top 100, an athlete with Olympic potential.
“When I found out I made the final I called my mom right away,” she said. “I couldn't wait to tell her the news.”
Vandermeer will now compete at the RBC Training Ground national final on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Halifax. From that event, 30 athletes will be chosen to receive funding to pursue their sport as well as a spot on Team Canada with on one of 12 partner national sport organizations.
At the national final, athletes will be tested for speed, power, strength and endurance. They will also be tested against sport-specific, high-performance benchmarks. An athlete measurements (height, wingspan, etc), sport-specific testing and competitive sport history will also be used to determine those that receive funding.
Also making it to the national final was Erin’s Kyla Warren, who was identified as having Olympic potential in rugby.
“When I received the email letting me know I’d made the final I was just coming out from my psych stats class and I was going for a training session,” said Warren, who plays fullback and wing with the Guelph Gryphons women’s rugby team and also trains with the women’s national team. “I was extremely happy to receive the notification. It felt like all the years of hard work and training had been acknowledged with a single email and it meant that I was one step closer to my Olympic dream.”
RBC Training Ground was founded in 2016 to identify athletes with Olympic potential. Since then, 21 alumni have gone on to compete at the Olympics, winning 14 medals. Krissy Scurfield (rugby) and Avalon Wasteneys (rowing) were among seven RBC Training Ground athletes to win medals at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Alumni Kelsey Mitchell (track cycling) and Marion Thénault (freestyle skiing) won medals in sports they had never participated in before being identified as having potential at the RBC Training Ground.
