Fall IM Midseason Report
By Christopher Lane, 25752, 1 Sqn CSSO
The outdoor games may be chilly, but this year’s IM season is just heating up.
This past week marked the official halfway point of the 2011 Fall IM season; a season which has seen a lot of changes in the IM structure. The first half of the season was used as a five-game round robin. This last week, each IM league (except ice hockey) was split into two different tiers based on league standings to increase the competitiveness of games. In most sports, teams’ records have been swept clean and squadrons are now starting their hunt for the playoffs in their respective tiers.
The rinks, pools, fields and pitches have seen excellent action so far this semester, as each squadron has fielded enthusiastic teams in soccer, ultimate frisbee, ball hockey and waterpolo leagues. As always, cadets have also been given the opportunity to play in competitive and recreational ice hockey leagues, which are broken down into divisions instead of squadrons. Standing out from the pack in inter-squadron play is 3 Sqn (ranked second in both the soccer and ball hockey leagues) and 5 Sqn (tied for first in waterpolo and ultimate). In traditional fashion, A Division (Sqns 1, 2, 3, and 4) is finding success in inter-division ice hockey play, leading both A and B leagues going into the second half of the season.
As frost begins to appear on the RMC peninsula, there is no doubt that the great outdoors will make its usual impact on squadrons’ playoff pushes, as cadets battle through the cold, rain and, soon enough, snow. Undaunted, friendly competition between squadrons is present and open for display every Tuesday and Thursday night. The RMC Intramural League has always offered cadets the opportunity for competitive inter-squadron play in a fun atmosphere, and this year is no exception.
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Rowers Perform at Development Regatta
By 25820 OCdt (III) Jennifer Allan
On Saturday the 22nd of October the RMC Rowing Club competed in the Guelph University Invitational Regatta. The Guelph Invitational is considered a development regatta; geared towards emergent crews seeking further racing experience. It consists of a standard 2 km course set up on Guelph Lake and, while maintaining the formalities of a standard regatta, the competition also evaluates boat skills and the degree of teamwork exhibited by crews when launching or docking boats. It is also a learning aid for rowing officials and those directing racing starts in university regattas.
The RMC Rowing Club was able to send thirteen rowers to the event and was able to field a men’s eight, two men’s fours, two men’s doubles, one women’s double and one women’s four crew. Because of the nature of the scheduling, this meant that RMC rowers could often be seen jumping from one boat, just having finished a grueling 2km race, directly into the next boat waiting at the dock to head back up the course with the next RMC crew. RMC rowers pushed themselves to the limits in order to qualify for finals and, despite their exhaustion, put on an impressive showing in their final races. The women’s four fought hard in an intense duel for second place; they finished third by a hair. Both men’s four crews qualified for finals and put on an intense display of maximal effort, finishing third and fourth respectively. The team left Guelph satisfied with their performance, but hungry for more.
The Club viewed this weekend’s regatta as an opportunity to further prepare crews for the Canadian University Rowing Championships taking place on November 5th and 6th in Welland, Ontario. RMC rowing crews have been training hard since the beginning of the rowing season in September with Nationals as the final goal. With this in mind, RMC rowers were grateful to have an opportunity to measure their improvement in this weekend’s regatta to see what progress has been made and to determine the training focus for the next two weeks. With a mere two weeks remaining before the culminating event, RMC rowers have caught the competitive spirit that plagues rowers. The tipping point when rowing transitions into something more than a hobby or a sport; it becomes an addiction.
Thus, though the mornings are darker than ever and the fall winds have been sweeping mercilessly through Kingston, producing some of the roughest rowing conditions seen by RMC rowers so far in the season, the RMC Crew remains undaunted. Whether charging through waves or sweating on the ergometers (indoor rowing machines), the RMC rowers are doing everything possible to prepare themselves for their next race, the race that will define the 2011 fall season.