Shhhh: Myer rower gunning for Triple Crown

With victories in the senior boys single at the Stotesbury Cup in Philadelphia and the varsity boys single at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America championships at Dillon Lake, Ohio, Evan MacRae is in the hunt for high school rowing’s Triple Crown at this weekend’s Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association championships in St. Catharines.

Just don’t mention that fact to the Grade 12 student at A.N. Myer Secondary School in Niagara Falls.

“We don’t say it because you don’t want to jinx it,” the 17-year-old said. “It’s kind of like saying shutout (in hockey), but it has always been the goal for the last three years and I have always been looking forward to this year.”

The Schoolboy champion in the junior boys single in his Grade 10 year feels this is the year to make history.

“I am at the peak of my high school career,” he said. “I have been training the hardest and it has all been working up towards this for the past three years.”

MacRae won comfortably at Stotesbury Cup, but his margin at the SRAA regatta was only 2.54 seconds.

“It got pretty tight at the end because the guy from Mohawk School started to put a big finish on me in the last 500 (metres), but I was able to hold him off.”

When the three-time Henley gold medalist — under-17 eight, under-19 four and the under-19 eight, the latter two coming in the summer of 2018 — crossed the finish line first, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I was thinking it’s two down, but let’s not get too excited and think about this one because we have to get right back to work on Sunday.”

The St. Catharines Rowing Club member, who started rowing when he was in Grade 6, trains 11 to 12 times a week in the morning and evening.

It’s a labour of love.

“I just love seeing myself progress every day and you get everything out of it that you put into it,” he said. “I love that feeling.”

He feels the biggest progression he has made in the past year is more mental than physical.

“It’s less about my athletic achievements and more about my mental strength,” he said. “I went from an athlete who didn’t know and didn’t believe in their ability before the start of this year and I’ve really started to believe in myself more and that’s through the help of my coach Meredith Petrychanko.

“I’m only starting now to believe in myself the way she has the last couple years.”

That self-belief is crucial.

‘It has been a huge game-changer for me just getting a little bit of confidence in myself and my ability,” MacRae said.

His abilities will be put to the test at Schoolboy and he knows it will be his toughest challenge of the season.

“Schoolboy is pretty difficult because there is a lot of talent in Ontario and Canada, not that the U.S. doesn’t have some great talent,” he said. “I have my sights set forward and I know the competition that is coming.

“I am staying humble and I am going to try and get the best result I can.”

Last year, he finished fourth in the senior single in the Schoolboy final, missing out on a medal by hundreds of a second.

“It was a pretty disappointing last race to come very close and miss out on even a medal,” he said. “Every time I train, I think about that little bit.

“If I push myself hard on workouts, I am going to gain that little bit.”

Once his high school season is over, MacRae has been invited out to British Columbia to compete for a spot on Canada’s junior rowing team. He was at the national team trials last year, but wasn’t selected for a boat.

“It has always been a goal to put the maple leaf on my back and pull hard,” he said.

Another goal is to land a rowing scholarship.

“I have had a couple of offers from Canadian schools, but I am just waiting for another couple days to decide as the application deadline comes to a close.”

He hasn’t ruled out venturing south of the border.

“I have had a lot of interest from the States, particularly Ivy (League) schools, but I am still trying decide whether I want to come back (to high school) to help figure out where I really want to go.”

The decision will be based on a combination of schooling and the best rowing he can get.

“Obviously, school is No. 1 for me because in this sport, there is no NHL and no professional league,” he said. “Schooling becomes really important.”