There is a long list of what makes Trent University a unique and a wonderful place to be a part of. Its collaborative approach allows its students to achieve excellence whilst working with professors, faculty and peers. Its community-based style allows for its members to create a collective space built on academia and sportsmanship. This collaboration and opportunity offered at Trent continues. Other than being named the number one university in Ontario according to MacLean’s university rankings, Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) recently announced that Trent University has been chosen as one of the five universities for a partnership with NextGen Canada.

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) is a non-profit organization recognized by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee as the governing body of rowing in Canada. Within RCA’s agenda is the NextGen program, designed to identify and develop athletes who portray performance results trending towards Potential Podium Performances. This is an established training pathway structured to facilitate athletes’ progression with the potential to process up to the podium.

The NextGen program is designed to facilitate athletes trending five to eight years from an Olympic/Paralympic podium performance. In delivering the NextGen strategy for rowing, RCA selects five environments that allows for the identification and development of NextGen athletes, by creating partnerships with five clubs, schools and institutions. Trent University has been proudly chosen as one of the NextGen rowing hubs. With its location on the Otonabee river, and its state of the art indoor rowing facilities in the Athletics Centre, Trent University will continue to be a great environment for rowing, and allow athletes to further excel to the Olympic level.

Whilst rowing is embedded in the sporting culture of Trent, this is a terrific opportunity for the university, and for rowing to grow in the community. As the director of Athletics and Recreation at Trent, Deborah Bright-Brundle says, “Trent University is extremely proud of our long-standing tradition in the sport of rowing. Year after year our talented rowers continuously excel at all levels of competition and Rowing Canada’s designation of Trent as a NextGen Hub cements this tradition, and also ensures our athletes continue to have the best available resources to succeed.”

This ground-breaking program is a multi-partner initiative between Trent University, the Peterborough Rowing Club, RCA, RowOntatio, Own the Podium and Canadian Sports Institute Ontario. Other than being a great opportunity for all members involved in the program, this partnership is definitely a great addition to the list of what makes Trent a wonderful place to be, providing more opportunities for us to grow and excel.