A high school girls’ rowing team from Ridley College in Ontario has earned international recognition after winning one gold and two silver medals at the 2025 Head of Shanghai River Regatta, marking the school’s first competition outside North America.
The 10-member crew from the St. Catharines private school won gold in the junior women’s eight 500-metre sprint, and silver in both the 4.2-kilometre women’s eight and the short-distance women’s quad.
Ridley College headmaster Ed Kidd said the event was not only a milestone but also an extraordinary cultural experience for the students.
“It is really the experience and opportunity to row at an international competitive level, in an incredible unique location, Suzhou Creek, right downtown Shanghai,” he said.
“They will never experience anything like that anywhere else in the world. But then to be able to walk away feeling like they’ve accomplished something, with a first and a second place, is amazing.”
Girls’ rowing director Siobhan McLaughlin said the team began preparing for the international debut at the end of the previous school year, committing to months of intensive training to be ready for the competition.
Located near the Niagara River, Ridley College has one of the most established youth rowing programs in Canada. With nearly 60 years of history, the school has produced numerous national-level athletes and medalists at Canadian and North American championships.
For most of the athletes and their coaches, this was their first trip to China. McLaughlin said the biggest challenge was adjusting to the conditions.
“On our first few training days, I think it was like in the 40s and very humid,” she said. “So that was very different than what we had come to.”
Despite the heat, the regatta became a rewarding cultural exchange. Girls’ rowing coach Ashley Van Roon said the experience taught the students valuable lessons both on and off the water.
“The girls had an amazing time,” she said. “In terms of how it shaped them as athletes but also as kids, this was a big opportunity to travel that far, and then to be able to row was a whole other experience for them.”
Ridley’s girls rowing was the first youth team from North America to compete at the 2025 Head of Shanghai River Regatta. The team’s rowers, all in Grades 11 and 12, have only been training for two to three years.
Rower Rachel Mason said the trip was about much more than competition.
“Along with the rowing and sport aspect, you’re there for a cultural experience,” she said. “Something that I love, I love to travel. And so we got started with some foods, they were all great.”
After returning home, the Ridley girls’ rowing team competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, where they reunited with some of the Chinese athletes they met in Shanghai. The students said the experience strengthened their appreciation for sport, culture and friendship beyond borders.
With files from Jie Yang, OMNI News Mandarin
