New generation of rowers breathes life back into historic Brockville Rowing Club

The Brockville Rowing Club has come a long way from the four to seven young athletes who were rowing there when Tyler St. John returned as a coach in 2024.

Today, the club supports 35 competitive rowers and 14 younger development athletes, growth that recently earned it the Community Excellence Award at the District Chamber of Commerce’s 67th Annual Awards of Excellence Gala. The club was honoured alongside fellow nominees Sherwood Park Manor and RNJ Youth Services.

BRC was established in 1894 to help develop youth rowers with recreational and competitive programming.

Brockvilleist caught up with St. John to learn more about the club and its revitalization.

St. John spent his teenage years rowing with BRC over three decades ago, at which time there were approximately 60 kids involved with the club. When St. John returned as assistant coach in 2024, there were about four to seven kids rowing.

The club has actively been rebuilding since 2025, with a more structured athlete-development model and coaching model. They expanded their competitive and developmental programs, and strengthened off-water training.

Previously, the club focused on teenage athletes, but they’ve expanded their offerings to kids of all ages, as well as adults.

St. John shared that when he was asked to return and try to grow the club again, the board asked if he could get the numbers back and set a goal.

“We met the goal within nine months,” he noted.

BRC currently supports 35 competitive rowers and 14 younger development athletes, with participants representing schools throughout Brockville, Gananoque, and South Grenville. Their teen competitive rowers train twice a day before and after school, starting around 5:30 a.m. each morning.

And their enthusiasm appears to be contagious.

“The kids that are coming down, they’re full of energy and they want to share it with their friends,” St. John said.

“That is what has revitalized the club. It’s not like I have reinvented the wheel… We are literally just getting the right like-minded people, and with them come other great like-minded people.”

The club has a full weight training facility and one of their newer offerings is strength training in the evenings; even athletes who don’t want to row can take advantage of the facility. They run summer camps for young kids to learn the basics of rowing, and now even offer adult training as well.

St. John shared that once the club grew its numbers, they focused on getting more engaged in the community. They do cleanups twice a year, picking up garbage along the shoreline, and they’re currently looking at organizing a blood drive.

BRC is one of the most affordable rowing clubs around, as they haven’t raised their rates in about a decade. This is due to support from donors, alumni and fundraising within the community.

“The goal of our program isn’t to make Olympic athletes. The goal of our program is to empower young women and young men to achieve goals that we set together, and to do them individually and as a team,” St. John expressed.

“We’re more than just a rowing club. We’re a small community within a larger community, and that is what shaped our revitalization.”

St. John added that the club’s rebuild is only just getting started. Over the next several years, they aim to grow to 55 competitive athletes and 25 development rowers while expanding their programs, partnerships and community reach.

For more information, visit the Brockville Rowing Club website.