Ryan Demler
Women's & Mens Freshman/Novice

Coach’s summary

Rowing Experience:

   I was first introduced to rowing through my older brothers, one of whom was one of the first members of what we now know as BHRA.

   I participated in the Learn To Row program the summer on 1996, but it wasn’t until January 2008 that I finally joined the team. I rowed four seasons a year all through high school. My first 3 years at McGill were spent as a member of the varsity men’s heavyweight program, with the summer of 2003 spent rowing with the Saratoga Rowing Association. I retired from competitive rowing after the spring season 2005.

Coaching Experience:

   I began coaching the summer of 2004 for the Junior-B girls program at Saratoga Rowing Association and spent two summer seasons with the program. The fall of 2005 I was a part-time lightweight women’s coach at McGill University and the following year I took over the women’s novice program working with them to achieve a gold medal at the Ontario University Athletics Championship regatta.

   Upon completing my studies I’m happy to say that I was given the opportunity to return to my rowing roots and offer a hand to BHRA in the capacity as the Freshmen boys/girls coach.

Fall season Summary:

   The fall season was quite an interesting one. With only 7 actual freshmen girls, plus a freshmen coxswain boating an 8 at practice was a challenge, let alone racing one. And while at the beginning of the season the girls appeared not to enjoy my approach to coaching and rowing by mid-way there was marked improvement. As the girls became more familiar with my coaching style and confident in their abilities we were able to make rapid improvement from the Tail of the Fish through the end of the season at the Head. As a Freshmen girls program we were lucky enough to have a modified rower step up and propel our girls to a great 3rd place finish at the Head of the Fish, exceeding even my expectations.

   The freshmen boys program was put in a very awkward position midway through the season as I took over their boat. They were in a similar situation as the girls having only 7 freshmen rowers. Furthermore having to move to my style of coaching halfway through the season put even more pressure on them to not only continue to improve in their abilities, but also adapt to a new approach of coaching. The first few weeks were tough as I tried to learn where the boys stood and as they tried to understand who their new coach was and what the heck he was saying. In the last few weeks things finally started clicking and by the Head of the Fish all the boys were able to get together and produce their best race of the season. The freshmen boys squad rowed very well and made me quite proud as I had the opportunity to watch them come through the finish and overhear the parents say how great they looked. As if their visibly improved rowing were not enough they all came off the water with their heads high and completely positive. A fantastic note on which to end the season.

Spring Outlook:

   Given the small Freshmen squad on both the boys and girls side I was very pleased for the majority of them to come in for winter training. I firmly believe that the most speed as achieved through off-season training and both squads show that they want to get fast.

   I look to continue the success and improvement of the Freshmen squads come spring time, hopefully with some more numbers (fingers crossed). The girls finished the season by closing a large time gap between them and Saratoga and look to add to their speed, with a run at the medals stand for states a distinct possibility.

   The boys ended their fall season with a positive attitude and a desire to get fast. Hopefully with a season of uninterrupted coaching together we’ll be able to find our speed and be a surprise contender for the spring. The desire and drive are there to be fast, now all we have to do is put in the hard work and get clicking and the boys too could make a run.