Another erg title for Keagan
Shane Keagan was at it again Saturday at the Ontario Ergometer Championships.
The holder of back-to-back Ontario and Canadian ergometer crowns and a bronze medal at the 2021 world indoor rowing championships dominated the field Saturday and won the senior high school men’s division by 26.9 seconds in a time of 6:15.1.
For the 12B student at Ridley College, it was just another day in the office for Keagan.
“It is more about doing my best on a particular day and it is all about personal development.”
His time Saturday was not a personal best and he felt that was a function of a number of factors.
“It was hot in here and there were a lot of distractions.”
Last summer, Keagan was a member of a quad that competed at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The boat, which was made up of Keagan, Adrian Breen of the Don Rowing Club, Giancarlo DiPompeo from the St. Catharines Rowing Club and Payton Gauthier from the Niagara Falls Rowing Club, finished second last in the field.
He described the event as a great experience.
“You get to see the quality of sportsmanship around the globe and it was a good experience. Hopefully I will be able to go back there again this year,” Keagan said. “It was really inspirational to see the calibre and skill of the boats. It was great to compete at the next level and I have tons of motivation now.”
That motivation came in handy during indoor training in the winter.
“You are staring at a wall for hours when you are doing it and when I wonder why I am doing it, it’s because I don’t want to feel the horrible feeling you have in your stomach when you finish second last in the world.”
He has been training though the winter at the NextGen Centre in Welland.
“I had a really good summer, I improved a lot and I used that momentum.”
He has specific rowing goals in mind for 2022.
“I would love to do really well at Schoolboy (Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association championships) and then hopefully carry that right through until junior worlds.”
He was a member of a Ridley eight that won CSSRA gold in 2019 and a bronze four. He expects to represent Ridley in the pair, double or single this year.
“Whatever boat class they put me in, I will work my butt off to make it go fast,” he said.
Keagan started rowing at Ridley College in September of his Grade 9 year.
