The McMaster Marauders men's and women's rowing teams are set for the OUA Championships in Welland, Ont. today.
 
2021 OUA Rowing Championships | Fan Guide

The first heat of the day is scheduled to race at 9:00 am with the women's lightweight 1x starting the day off.
 
Competition will take place at the Welland International Flatwater Centre, home of the 2015 Pan American Games, and is hosted by Row Ontario and the Trent Excalibur.
 
In 20 different events, including both men's and women's, the finalists will be awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals, as well as points that will go towards the overall banner.
 
McMaster will be sending four women and eight men to the invitational, competing throughout the day in ten events. Sarah Oresnik starts things off for McMaster in the women's lightweight singles. The next appearance for the Marauders will in the men's lightweight singles, with Ashton Corr hopping on the water.
 
Other singles that will be racing later in the day are Jonathan Pusic and Daria Ciparis for the men's 1x and women's 1x, respectively. Pusic will be joined by Jacob Bresolin to race in the men's doubles, while Corr and Will Bleecker will fight for the men's lightweight doubles title.
 
On the women's side, Ciparis and Nathalie Hilbert will race in the doubles, followed by Oresnik and Austine Wang later in the morning in the lightweight category.
 
Moving right into the finals in the afternoon, Jack Thorpe and Alex Cowman will take on the men's lightweight pair. Liam MacDonald and Alex Barnes will join Cowman and Thorpe in the men's lightweight 4+ with Alyssa DiPaolo as coxy.
 
This year's Marauder rowing team features new players and coaches who have joined the team with a fresh perspective in the hope of bringing home some medals.
 
Details:
McMaster Marauders @ OUA Championship (hosted by Row Ontario and Trent Excalibur)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 30 @ 9 am
Location: Welland International Flatwater Centre
 
History:
 
The Marauders are due for a championship win — the last time that the McMaster's women's rowing team took home the banner was in 1975, and the men last won in 1966.
 
The team is in good hands with a majorly new staff, including Andrea Jansen, one of the new men's coaches. Although she rowed for Brock, she is the reigning OUA Light Women's Pair Champion, and can hopefully help bring McMaster to similar results.
 
Looking at the competition, the Western Mustangs will be the school to beat this year as both the men's and women's reigning champions.
 
The Mustangs have captured 58 combined men's and women's titles in the history of the event, 14 of which have been in the last 10 years.
 
Players to Watch:
 
Jonathan Pusic: In his Masters, this is Pusic's first year at McMaster, but he has an extensive background in rowing. He has wins from both the Western Canadian University Championships and the Canadian University Championships and could come away this weekend with his first ever OUA Championship medal.
 
Daria Ciparis: Voted McMaster's 2020 Most Dedicated Athlete, Ciparis is a fierce competitor and will represent the Marauders as both a single and a double. She transferred to McMaster from Brock in 2019 but had to withdraw from the OUA finals due to a crew mate's injury. Despite a tumultuous last two seasons, Ciparis has remained committed to the team and will be in good company among the Marauder squad.