Date: October 23, 2017

To: All clubs and organizations registered with Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA); all RCA board members

Hello All,

This open letter is a request to the RCA board to direct RCA staff to reverse the decision to close the
London Training Centre and designate the Victoria Training Centre as the single National Training
Centre until the results of a detailed evaluation have been completed and shared with RCA
stakeholders.

I have significant concerns regarding the decision made by RCA to close the London Training Centre
(LTC). This decision was made without consulting RCA coaches, RCA staff, RCA athletes, Provincial Sport
Organizations and RCA membership. The decision was poorly communicated and no rationale for the
closure has been provided.

In June, RCA published the 2016 High Performance Review Summary, a document that provided key
findings from interviews with National Team athletes. The report can be found on the RCA website
(http://rowingcanada.org/sites/default/files/rca_report_2016_-_summary_final_.pdf).
Recommendations included hiring a world class High Performance Director who would be responsible
for creating a more competitive training environment; more structured planning and debrief regimens
at both NTCs; and establishing a performance mentality within each centre. There was not a
recommendation to move to a single NTC.

Intuitively, running a single NTC for all athletes makes sense. Having the team together in one location
should provide a more optimal environment for training and coaching than splitting the team between
two locations. Additionally, the cost savings of a single centre are likely substantial enough to make the
business case for a single NTC compelling. Assuming this is true, the selection of the single NTC location
should consider both the facilities available in each location, and the performance of athletes based in
each location.

I am sharing my analysis of the two locations based on these with you in this open letter.

Facilities
In my time with RCA, I spent time at both NTCs. I have compared the two centres on criteria that I
believe are required to deliver the optimal training experience and support a performance culture.
Neither NTC has it all, and where there is a gap, I have summarized the actions taken to address the gap
by that NTC.

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 Criteria LTC VTC

Storage for shells and oars
Medical support
Dry land training
Sufficient water to support up to 45
full-time national team athletes
2000M Rowing Course
Year-round access to water
Yes – Fanshawe has space
Yes – Full team available
Yes – ergs and weights
available
Yes – Fanshawe Lake is larger
than Elk Lake
Yes – Fanshawe Lake has a
200M Albano (buoyed) course
No – Access only from April to
November. Training camps in
the winter months to the US
Yes – but capacity challenges
in the past
Yes – Full team available
Yes – ergs and weights
available
No – Capacity issues have
plagued RCA in the past
No – Time trials occur over
1850M
Yes - Athletes can row on the
water year-round with
occasional freeze up

Both NTCs offer a full complement of support staff to provide administration and athlete medical
support. Both NTCs offer dryland training facilities, including weights and ergs. Athletes can row year-
round at VTC and not at LTC; LTC athletes attend several winter training camps in warm locations
interspersed with indoor winter training and cross training outdoors. Fanshawe Lake is a much larger
lake, can support longer pieces (more than 5000M in one direction) and has a buoyed 2000M course for
training and for time trials. Please see the comparison below (same scale applies). Fanshawe is a more
accommodating training location in the summer months when the most intensive training is required.

Lake Fanshawe Elk Lake

Source: google maps

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Performance Culture
Facilities are the ‘what’ that is required to put athletes on the podium, and performance culture is the
‘how’. It is hard to measure culture, but it is not difficult to measure performance. An analysis of
Canada’s results at U23 World Championships, World Championships and Olympic games over the past
eight years (2010 to 2017) demonstrates that the LTC has consistently outperformed the VTC over this
period.

Medal Count by Training Centre 2010 – 2017

This review of medal performance (which assumes that all men have trained in VTC and all women
except the 2016 LW2x have trained in LTC) demonstrates the following:
 LTC has delivered the majority of podium finishes over this period (63%)
 The majority of athletes who have stood on the podium for Canada are LTC athletes (71%)
 LTC has delivered at least one medal at every U23 World Championships and World
Championships (excluding the 2012 Olympic year)

For more detailed information on this analysis, please see Appendix A.

In conclusion, in comparing the performance of LTC and VTC it is difficult to make the argument that
access to water twelve months a year is a necessary to deliver podium performances. If the VTC and LTC
were two different sports that were being evaluated, it would be a difficult to justify moving resources
from the LTC, which has historically and recently produced results, to the VTC.

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Given the performance of the LTC relative to the VTC, the selection of the VTC is surprising. I am writing
to the RCA Board of Directors to request that RCA halt the closing of the LTC and the movement of the
athletes until a full and proper analysis is conducted and shared with RCA stakeholders.

The analysis should include the following:

 The criteria used to make the decision to consolidate to a single NTC

 The criteria used to evaluate the LTC and VTC as the single NTC
 How RCA will monitor the effectiveness of this decision over the next eight years

Thank you for your consideration. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me.

Sincerely

Phil Monckton
Phil.monckton@gfhgroup.ca
647-401-0659

Phil Monckton represented Canada in Rowing between 1974-1984 and won a Bronze Medal in the
Quadruple Sculls at the 1984 LA Olympics. He has coached rowing athletes at all levels and has won
RCA’s Coach of the Year award two times. He served on the RCA Board as the Vice President, High
Performance for the Beijing and London quadrennials. He continues to compete and coach, winning the
Senior Masters Double at Head of the Charles in 2017.

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 APPENDIX A – Podium Performance Details
Rowing Canada Podium Finishes 2010-2017

Category 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 TOTALS PERCENT OF TOTALS
NTCC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC
U23 World Championship Gold W8+ W4- M4+ M4x W2- W8+ M1x 10 6 62.5% 37.5%
U23 World Championship Silver M2- W1x W4-
U23 World Championship Bronze W8+ LW1X W1x W4- LM2- M4-
World Championship Gold LW2x 11 5 68.8% 31.3%
World Championship Silver W8+ W8+; LW2x W4- LW2x; W8+ M2+ W8+
World Championship Bronze LM2- M8+; M2+ M2+ W8+ W8+ LW1x
Olympic Gold 1 2 33% 66.7%
Olympic Silver W8+ M8+ LW2x
Olympic Bronze

Category 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 TOTALS
NTCC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC LTC VTC
Medal Total 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 0 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 22 13
% of Total Medals 60% 40% 67% 33% 60% 40% 100% 0% 60% 40% 50% 50% 50% 50% 67% 33% 63% 37%
Athletes Winning Medals Total 20 4 21 11 14 12 14 0 15 7 13 8 3 5 18 1 118 48
% of Total Athletes Winning Medals 83% 17% 66% 34% 54% 46% 100% 0% 68% 32% 62% 38% 38% 63% 95% 5% 71% 29%