In the lead-up to the 2024 Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association (CSSRA) Championships, we are calling on all members of the Ridley rowing family to rally and support our initiative aimed at strengthening our rowing programme and empowering the continued success of our talented student-athletes.

As we embark on this journey, we are excited to showcase the remarkable students whose dedication and passion for rowing fuel our mission. These young athletes, whose training, teamwork and perseverance lie at the heart of this campaign, greatly benefit from your generous support. It is your contributions that turn their dreams into reality, providing essential equipment, world-class facilities and opportunities to compete at the highest levels. Join us in highlighting the stories of these exceptional students and witnessing the profound impact your donations make in their pursuit of excellence on the water. 

Charlotte Pieckenhagen ’24 is a Grade 12 rower from Toronto, Ontario. She has been making waves in the rowing community for the past four years. Her track record is commendable, with one gold medal and two silver medals wins at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association (CSSRA) Championships and two second-place finishes at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta. She has received a two-year national team invite to the U19 selection camp. Beyond rowing, Charlotte has committed to the University of Wisconsin for hockey next year.  

How did you get into rowing?   

I originally got into rowing through Ridley. My father rowed, so I had heard a lot of stories from him about rowing and about his journey with the sport, but I never really tried it out myself. When I got to Ridley, I decided I would also row to add conditioning to my hockey career. I didn’t start racing until the spring of Grade 10 when the season started. It turned into a great passion of mine and a great way to condition for hockey, so I kept it up, and here I am in my last year of rowing, about to graduate – time flies! 

What has being a part of Ridley Rowing taught you so far? 

Being a part of Ridley Rowing has taught me so many things that I wish to carry with me for the rest of my athletic and academic career. It has taught me dedication, sacrifice and, most importantly, leadership! The dedication needed to be a rower is extreme. It requires early mornings every day of the week and multiple times a day. Especially for a second sport, it made me learn how to manage my time wisely. It taught me to study properly because if I hadn’t, my sleep and then my athletic performance would have been affected by long nights! Sacrifice as a rower is needed in every aspect. Through the tough races, sacrificing your body to get to that finish line is everything. But you do it for the crew around you and the girls who have helped you in every aspect of every practice! And lastly, leadership. Leadership is the most important aspect of creating an amazing team environment. Being a leader helps bring home championships because of how much you would have helped and inspired your teammates around you! It helps create a fun, hard-working atmosphere that continues to grow every day. Being a leader is something I aspire to do every day, as I love encouraging and helping the next generation to achieve their goals! 

What do you love most about Ridley Rowing?  

The thing that I love most about Ridley Rowing is the community and family that you get from it. Because Ridley Rowing requires so many people and, in return, has the biggest team on campus, it’s definitely amazing. It gives you so many brothers and sisters and a community that you can’t wait to see every day. The road trips with everyone are definitely trips I will have in the back of my mind for years to come! 

How has Ridley Rowing helped you achieve your goals?   

Ridley Rowing has helped me achieve my goals by making my body and mind stronger than I ever thought was capable. From getting up at 5:00a.m. to then having to endure my 10:00p.m. hockey practices, it has built me into a tough cookie that I am proud to be! From Grade 10, rowing has shaped the athlete that I have become. It has given me extra strength in my quads, hamstrings and shoulders and that has tremendously helped me to become the hockey player I am. It has helped me achieve a faster stride and a bigger physique. Without rowing I would not have had that extra push to my athleticism. My mental toughness has also changed from rowing. It made me believe that I am capable of going the extra mile and doing that extra workout. It made me believe that our bodies are capable of pushing so much harder than I had ever thought, which, in return, made me work harder and develop the characteristics I have today. I can thank Ridley Rowing for that! 

What are your future plans/ambitions with rowing after you graduate from Ridley?   

My future plans with rowing stop after I graduate and after my final CSSRA Regatta. It has been an amazing four years of rowing for Ridley, and I am so grateful for it since it has led me to have so many opportunities and to make so many new friends. But with that said, I am so excited for the next chapter of my athletic career through hockey! I am committed to the University of Wisconsin for the fall of 2025, so it is full steam ahead with hockey for the rest of my career and hopefully to bigger stages in the sport as well, like the PWHL and Hockey Canada. But I can’t wait to come back and watch my brother Caillen row in his last year here and hopefully make big strides in his career!