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Brentwood Rower Finalist for Provincial Male Athlete of the Year
Grade 12 student and rowing champion Eric Jackson has been nominated as a finalist for Junior Male Athlete of the Year. This award will be presented to the winning athlete by Sport BC in an award ceremony held on March 31st 2010 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond, BC. The last time a Brentwood athlete was nominated for an award at the Athlete of the Year Awards for Sport BC, David Calder and Kevin White (1996) won "Team of the Year" after winning the Junior World Championships in rowing in Scotland.
The competing finalists are listed here: http://www.sport.bc.ca/programs/AOY/
We are very proud of Eric's achievements and dedication to his sport. His coach, Brian Carr, details this young athlete's successes below.
In the summer of 2008 Eric Jackson won a gold medal at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ontario in the Junior B Men's double. This was an amazing feat considering he had just started rowing six months before this regatta. To win the gold medal, he and his partner had to beat out over 70 other doubles from around North America. One month later, Eric started in his Grade 11 year at Brentwood.
He quickly rose up in the ranks at school. Eric asked me if he could try out for the Junior National team (Under 19) to go to France and the Junior World Championships. A week later he asked if he could try out for Team BC (Under 21) and race in the Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island. At first he was counseled to not set such lofty goals, but then, as he started to improve his erg score and speed on the water, these goals were not so lofty.
He made Team BC in the first round of selection and was the youngest member on the team. In June Eric won a place on the Junior National Team coxed four, which trained out of Victoria. At the end of July Eric and his teammates took off to France to compete in the Junior World Rowing Championships. An incredible experience for Eric and his crew. They won their opening heat which placed them directly into the final. As the only Grade 11 in the crew, Eric found everything rather overwhelming. In the finals, Canada placed 6th.
On the Monday after the World Championships, Eric flew all the way back from France to Victoria. He met up with his Team BC team mates and two days later flew back east to Prince Edward Island in time to walk into the arena at the Opening Ceremonies. Four days later, at the end of the Canada Summer Games regatta, Eric finished off with two silver medals and a gold medal in the Men's eight. What was remarkable about that achievement was that he was Under 17 competing in an Under 21 competition! Not too many 16 year old boys have a summer like Eric's!
In September there were many universities interested in Eric attending their institutions and rowing for them. The one school that caught Eric's attention was Northeastern University in Boston. A 36 hour visit to the school and Eric was offered a full ride scholarship worth over $200,000 US.
Rowing BC's president, Debbie Sage presented Eric's application to Sport BC. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for March 31st.
He quickly rose up in the ranks at school. Eric asked me if he could try out for the Junior National team (Under 19) to go to France and the Junior World Championships. A week later he asked if he could try out for Team BC (Under 21) and race in the Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island. At first he was counseled to not set such lofty goals, but then, as he started to improve his erg score and speed on the water, these goals were not so lofty.
He made Team BC in the first round of selection and was the youngest member on the team. In June Eric won a place on the Junior National Team coxed four, which trained out of Victoria. At the end of July Eric and his teammates took off to France to compete in the Junior World Rowing Championships. An incredible experience for Eric and his crew. They won their opening heat which placed them directly into the final. As the only Grade 11 in the crew, Eric found everything rather overwhelming. In the finals, Canada placed 6th.
On the Monday after the World Championships, Eric flew all the way back from France to Victoria. He met up with his Team BC team mates and two days later flew back east to Prince Edward Island in time to walk into the arena at the Opening Ceremonies. Four days later, at the end of the Canada Summer Games regatta, Eric finished off with two silver medals and a gold medal in the Men's eight. What was remarkable about that achievement was that he was Under 17 competing in an Under 21 competition! Not too many 16 year old boys have a summer like Eric's!
In September there were many universities interested in Eric attending their institutions and rowing for them. The one school that caught Eric's attention was Northeastern University in Boston. A 36 hour visit to the school and Eric was offered a full ride scholarship worth over $200,000 US.
Rowing BC's president, Debbie Sage presented Eric's application to Sport BC. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for March 31st.