Student athlete returns to Trent as rowing head coach
Jessica Reaume will coach the Excalibur varsity, Peterborough Rowing Club teams
A former student athlete who spent hours training and racing as a competitive rower on the Otonabee River is returning to Trent University to become head coach of the Excalibur varsity rowing teams and Peterborough Rowing Club.
That experience made Jessica Reaume a natural fit for the role, officials stated.
“She brings tremendous technical strength and has a thorough understanding of the balances that are required by our student-athletes,” athletics director Deborah Bright-Brundle stated.
“Jessica is student-athlete focused and performance driven and I know she will be able to take our student-athletes, and the Excalibur varsity rowing program, to the next level.”
A Trent environmental science and bachelor of education graduate in 2005, Reaume rowed for the university’s varsity team from 2001 to 2005.
She is trained as a performance coach through the National Coaching Certification Program and started coaching for both the Peterborough rowing club and the Trent women’s team in 2014.
Reaume also established the long-term athlete development pathway for junior rowing at the Peterborough club.
Reaume’s hire follows a successful application by the Peterborough Rowing Club and Trent Athletics for the full time coach salary support program from the Coaches Association of Ontario Quest for Gold program. The program provides educationbased subsidies for competitive to high-performance coaches to ensure that Ontario’s developmental and high-performance athletes receive the best coaching possible.
“Trent Rowing has been a performance sport at the university for many years. I’m looking forward to being part of that tradition and driving the program forward on the provincial and national stage,” Reaume stated.
“We are very pleased to have Jessica as our new head coach of the PRC and Trent University,” rowing club president Brian Love stated.
“She brings very strong knowledge of the sport to the job and seasoned skill in program development and delivery across the full spectrum of rowing classifications.
“Most important of all as a former Trent University and PRC athlete, she understands the strong competitive nature and community spirit of rowing in Peterborough.”
Rowing Canada Aviron named Trent as one of five NextGen Hub university partners selected to identify and train high-performance rowers to compete for Canada at the highest levels of the sport.
Trent’s history of excellence in rowing and its long-standing partnership with the club were major factors in the designation as an RCA NextGen Hub, officials stated.
The program provides optimal coach-to-athlete ratios, extensive performance planning and enhanced technical coaching capacity.