Colin Mattock — Director of Rowing

Colin Mattock is the new director of Shawnigan’s historic rowing program.

Mr. Mattock has coached at multiple levels of competition. At the Victoria City Rowing Club, Colin coached U17 with top three finishes in the Men’s 8+, 4x, and 2x at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. He coached crews who won gold in the Women’s 8+ and 4+ in 2012. Mr. Mattock also coached the Team BC Men’s Crew to six gold medals at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games.

At the high school level, Mr. Mattock’s crews have won various medals at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Championships including bronze in the Senior Women 63kg double in 2016.

John Bomans — Rowing Coach

John Bomans began rowing in high school and continued his career at the University of Western Ontario and with the Rowing Club. His Lightweight 8+ crews earned gold and silver medals at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharine’s and a 4th place finish at the .

Mr. Bomans enters his ninth year of coaching at Shawnigan. He has led numerous rowers to medal finishes at the CSSRA National Regatta. He believes rowing is about the path to the finish line. Winning is the thrill but does not define the individual — racing is the reward.

Arden Gill ’10 — Rowing Coach

Arden Gill ’10 has been coaching at Shawnigan since 2015. As a student at Shawnigan, she won three titles at the Canadian High School National Championships.

After graduating, Ms. Gill rowed for Mercyhurst University under Adrian Spracklen. As a member of the varsity eight, she was runner- up at the NCAA Rowing Championships and was a two-time gold medallist at the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the United States.

She was also a member of the Junior National program and has competed for notable clubs including Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club in , in and St. Catharines Rowing Club.

For Ms. Gill, it’s not purely the results that drive her — she also wants her athletes to enjoy the sport as much as she did. It is an honour for her to help coach the next generation of Shawnigan rowers. Galen Loiselle — Rowing Coach

Galen Loiselle began his rowing coaching career in 1996 at the Nanaimo Rowing Club. His 20-year career has been spread across the high school, university and adult masters levels, with crews racing at elite regattas such as the BC Summer Games, Canadian Secondary Schools Regatta, Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, Canada Cup and the Canada Summer Games. His crews won gold at the 2001 Canada Summer Games in the Heavy Men’s 8+, and the Heavy Men’s 4+.

Mr. Loiselle has dedicated his time and energy to developing a robust athlete-centered program for the Grade 8s at Shawnigan. The Grade 8 program is one of the few at Shawnigan where girls and boys train side by side and in mixed crews; strengthening the bonds of friendship and teamwork.

Coming off a very successful season in which his Grade 8 crews won gold in three out of the four Jr. C events at the annual Shawnigan Lake Regatta, Mr. Loiselle is looking forward to welcoming a new crop of young athletes to the docks this fall.

Meghan Montgomery — Rowing Coach

Meghan Montgomery brings eight years of coaching experience to Shawnigan.

She was a U17 and U19 boys and girls coach at the Victoria City Rowing Club for five years before starting at Shawnigan. In her first year as the senior girls coach, she took an 8+ to the Head of the Charles, won gold at CSSRA in the senior girls quad event and took the first ever girls crew to race at in England.

Ms. Montgomery rowed for Team Canada’s para-rowing team from 2006 to 2012, and then again in 2016. She was part of the first ever crews to attend a Paralympic games for Canada in 2008, and was part of the crew that won Canada’s first ever Paralympic medal in para-rowing in 2016.

Julie Platt — Rowing Coach

Julie Platt’s rowing career started when she was in high school. In 1986 she won the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Championships in the Senior 2x. She continued rowing at the University of Victoria, where she was the captain of the women’s rowing team.

Ms. Platt went on to have many international successes. She represented Canada at two Junior World Rowing Championships, winning two bronze medals. She has competed at four World Rowing Championships and the 1991 Pan-America Games, winning gold and silver medals in the latter. Ms. Platt also served as an alternate for the womens 8+ at two , in Barcelona and Atlanta.

As a Shawnigan coach, she has worked with students of all ages and has led many crews to podium finishes.

Program Staff

Colin Mattock, Director of Rowing John Bomans, Coach Arden Gill ’10, Coach Sarah Kingstone ’07, Coach Galen Loiselle, Coach Meghan Montgomery, Coach Julie Platt, Coach Stephen Watson, Coach