There are some exciting things in the air for the Rockies Rowing Club lately and one young Cranbrook rower’s success story aptly highlights the hard work and dedication of the team and its coaches. Katie Clark, 19, has officially signed on to row with the U21 RCANextGen Team and will head off to Karapiro, New Zealand to participate in the Trans-Tasman Series on August 23 to 25.
Clark grew up in Cranbrook and began skiing at the age of six, quickly working her way on to the Kimberley Alpine team. Her interest in rowing began in 2014. Inspired by seeing UBC’s performance at the Nationals the previous year, she got deeper into the sport, and decided she wanted to go to the BC Summer Games.
Coach Roberta Rodgers of the Rockies Rowing Club became something of a mentor to Clark, and soon the young rower and three other ladies from Cranbrook had learned the necessary skills to compete in the Nanaimo games in July 2014.
The spirited determination and commitment of these four individuals resulted in the formation of an official team that headed to the Summer Games as representatives for their provincial zones. Though they had less than three months of experience, they managed to turn some heads at the games and the experience acted as a catalyst for Clark’s new direction in sports.
Clark continued to ski race in the winter and row in the summer, but then an accident skiing resulting in a torn ACL caused Clark to pause and reassess what she wanted to do.
“When I tore my ACL I probably could have kept on racing, but it was one of those times where I was thinking that I should maybe start thinking about something in the future like a career or whatever,” Clark told the Townsman. “I’m not sure if I could have got the grades that I got in grade 12 and continued ski racing.”
Clark still skis recreationally and said she misses racing a lot, especially when she’s about to start a gruelling rowing workout.
“Especially recently, I’ve been thinking why did I quit skiing,” she said with a laugh. “Gravity was helping me and now I’m dragging my own body around on water and it’s just so much work.”
In 2016, Clark began to consider post-secondary schooling options. After connecting with Craig Pond, head coach of the University of British Columbia’s women’s rowing team, she wound up landing a spot on the UBC Thunderbird’s rowing crew after her ergometer time caught his attention.
She was then accepted into their kinesiology program and began training with the team, where she was faced with almost insurmountable challenges that forced her to push herself to her absolute limits.
“I was almost certain I was going to get cut,” Clark recalled. “Every day I was like ‘I’m done, this is over’, all the kids that were there went to private schools and stuff and had been rowing and training with quite accomplished coaches. So when I got there I just felt very out of my element. But instead of shutting down and quitting I was like, ‘nope, we’re going to prove to them that this kid from the Kootenays can row.’”
She slowly began to pick up on the specific skills and techniques the crew was looking for and then it really took off. She claimed the second fastest six-kilometre ergometer time for all U19 women in the country with a time of 22:38.8 at the Radar testing in the fall of 2017.
“She’s always been competitive and she’s made her way through UBC in the first year unheard of to make the senior varsity boat,” said Clark’s mother Patricia. “She sets her goals high, she’s never a girl to say she can’t do it, so if you tell her that she can’t that’s just more power to her.”
Patricia added that her and Katie’s father are “speechless” and they can’t help but feel excited, adding, “it’s nice to see kids’ hard work pays off some times.”
Her relentless hard work, which translated into exceptional speed and endurance, then gave her the chance to row in the Junior Varsity 4 at the 2017 Western Canadian University Rowing Championships at Elk Lake BC in October, 2017. Clark’s boat placed first. This came one week after finishing first at the Head of the Gorge regatta hosted by the University of Victoria Vikes.
In April of 2018 Clark joined a Senior Varsity eight-member crew and competed in the Brown Cup race where UVic and UBC battle it out for the the prestigious award. Though she did not claim it this year, she already has her sights set on it for next.
This past spring, Clark was named 2018 UBC Rowing female rookie of the year and acknowledged her as most improved athlete in her category.
And now, Clark’s trip to New Zealand is the next step in her remarkable journey, and the 2018 U21 Trans-Tasman Team is looking for some support. Rowing Canada has started a crowdfunding campaign and they will match the first $25,000 contributed towards it. At the end of the campaign, Rowing Canada will divide it, reimbursing all participants based on how much they raised, and it will help to cover the cost of the trip. Follow the link here to support Clark and the rest of the team.