St. George's School

Rowing is a special sport with special people. The bond that the Saints Rowers have is as close to unbreakable as you can get. Rowing at Saints will push you and challenge you and you’ll fail at times. Those times though, are the times that strengthen your resilience, work ethic, teamwork and help you become the best version of yourself.

Saints rowers are not only defined by the dozens of CSSRA (Nationals) Championship medals, and although we’re quite proud of that, our team is also proud of the community we help create around the School and the academic success of our student athletes.

We strive to be many things and they include:

the most successful student athletes on campus
positive, hard-working, empathetic contributors to our school community
the top men’s high school rowing team in the country
a tight-knit family that supports and pushes each other through our successes and failures

Through the year we have many opportunities for the boys to experience how great our sport is. Those include regattas on the lower mainland and Vancouver Island in addition to trips to the National Championships every year. We also compete in international regattas such as the Head of the Charles (Boston), Stotesbury Cup Regatta (Philadelphia) and Royal Henley Regatta (United Kingdom) to have the opportunity to race at some of the worlds best events for high school student athletes.

We train at one of the best boathouses in Canada. Located on the Fraser River just south of the Vancouver Airport, the John M.S Lecky Boathouse houses Thunder Rowing Crew, the UBC Men’s and Women’s rowing programs and St. George’s Rowing.

St. George’s School Rowing also has one of the biggest, and most up to date boat fleets and equipment in Canada. Our fleet of boats consists 1x’s through to 8+’s (USP and SP hulls) from Hudson Boatworks in addition to Concept 2 skinny and ultralight oars. Our equipment is updated frequently as we strive to have all of our varsity boats no more than 5 years old. Our team feels both sculling and sweeping are important and make an athlete the best athlete they can be.

Saints Rowing is also proud to support the team with a great group of passionate, dedicated coaches. Two full-time coaches run the team day to day, while additional coaching is provided by part-time (paid and volunteer) by Old Boys and other community members. Our coaches love coming to help the boys find out how fast they can go and feel part of a great family.

If you’re interested in being a part of our team we’re looking for passionate, hard working individuals. Please email the Head of Rowing, Sean Leyland if you’re interested in coming to St. George’s for school or rowing with our team. You’ll love the school and the team.

ALUMNI ALERT

If you’re an alumni please reach out. We’d love to connect with you more and invite you to events we’ll have periodically through the year. Please feel free to contact the Head of Rowing, Sean Leyland.

This year we are fortunate to be able to christen three new boats. Click below to learn more about them!

List of 3 items.

"Matthews Brothers '00, 05, '09"

Danny Matthews had significant successes as an Old Boy(s). Between his time with St. George's, Rowing Canada, and a victory in the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal with Western, we thought it appropriate to recognize one of our most accomplished graduates. The boat will be named the "Matthews Brothers '00, 05, '09" in recognition of Danny and his family's success and contribution.
Kevin Chung

Kevin Chung had significant contributions to the team environment as an athlete, Old Boy, and coach. Successful in his own right in his time at St. George's, the boys have learned to look up to him for his ability to connect with them in your time as a coach. Furthermore, they hold a tremendous amount of respect for him, given his accomplishments with UBC and Rowing Canada, including holding the only senior world's level men's medal since the 2012 Olympic Games. The boat will be named the "Kevin Chung '14."
Teena Schneider

Teena Schneider has provided nearly decade-long contributions as a coach. Providing stability to the Rowing Coordinator position after considerable turnover, she helped build and develop a Junior B program that provided young athletes with the tools to thrive later in their careers. Furthermore, she did this while being a strong female influence in the St. George's and Boathouse community, which is a testament to her willpower and character. The boat will be named the "Teena Schneider"

Coaches

List of 4 members.

Sean Leyland

Head of Rowing
Brent Duncan

Rowing Coordinator

Bio
A graduate of the University of Western Ontario (BA History/English '14, MA Kinesiology '16), Brent was eager to join St. George's to work professionally as a rowing coach. He's been involved with the sport since his hometown hosted the World Rowing Championships in 1999 and competed throughout high school and into university, where he competed regularly at university and club national championships. During his undergrad, he would help coach at his former high school, which sparked his passion for educating young people. Since then, he’s coached all ages, from young kids being introduced to the sport, to master athletes in their 60s trying to remain fit. His love of sport extends outside of rowing, as his Master's degree was in sport history, and he engaged with a wide variety of academic fields through the lens of sport. Outside of work, Brent likes to cycle, read, and play board games with friends.
Jack Lee Zhang 19
Kevin Chung 14