¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ rowers are among the toughest competitors on the Canadian university rowing circuit. Last year, the women's heavyweight eight team placed first in Ontario and second in Canada. Just this past summer, five ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ rowers took gold at the prestigious Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ontario.
¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ success comes from the calibre of student athletes and training staff anchored for nearly 40 years by coach John Armitage of the Kingston Rowing Club. The university's dry-land rowing facilities, however, for years consisted of a half-dozen aged rowing machines shoehorned into a corner of a campus gym.
Then, Vancouver lawyer Doug Robinson entered the picture. His daughter, Meghan, was a key member of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ women's rowing team and a member of the national women's under-23 squad. This August, representing Canada, she won silver and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Rowing Regatta in Motherwell, Scotland.
The elder Robinson had been contemplating a gift to thank ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ for the excellent education and rowing training Meghan received. He had contributed a new boat to the women's rowing team, and a video camera that helps coaches analyze their team’s technique on the water. But it wasn't until a visit with his daughter in Kingston that it became clear what he needed to do.
Robinson suggested that a rarely used dance studio in the Athletic and Recreation Centre be repurposed for indoor training. Others agreed and he supported the purchase of 16 rowing machines and four stationary bikes that now form the heart of the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ High Performance Rowing Centre.
The facility fills a longstanding gap in the rowing program. ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ major competitors – UBC, the University of Victoria, and Brock and Western universities – all have "fantastic" indoor rowing facilities, says Coach Armitage.
"Now we have the kind of home ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ rowers need and deserve," he said.
With his daughter now a Queen’s graduate and completing graduate education at the University of Edinburgh, Doug Robinson has some advice for potential donors.
"We're not able to give millions of dollars to the university," says Robinson. "Find something your family is interested in, and support that. Small gifts can make a difference."
