After taking some time off from the competitive world of rowing to work in northern B.C., Ben De Witt has returned to the rowing community and has been selected to participate on the Men’s Eight team to compete in the World University Rowing Championships in France.
Ben De Witt graduated from Nakusp Secondary School in 2007 and was a member of the soccer squad that won the provincial banner in 2004.
De Witt was actively involved in Nakusp sports, participating on the school basketball and soccer teams as well as the Naksup hockey team, the Falcons.
After graduating, De Witt was invited to play soccer for the Thompson Rivers University he was planning to attend, but a work related injury prevented him from following that athletic path.
De Witt focused on school and after a year in the engineering program transferred to UBC to continue his studies. While attending UBC, De Witt was approached by Ben Rutledge, the first year rowing coach and gold medal Olympian who was aggressively recruiting rowers for his program.
De Witt had never considered rowing prior to his introduction to the sport but was interested in the opportunity to remain competitively active.
“Once you graduate, sports like hockey and soccer become more intramural based and there isn’t much in the way of competition,” De Witt explains. “With rowing I can continue to be competitive while maintaining a balance in my life,” he added.
De Witt successfully completed the first year rowing program and decided to pursue the sport further by joining the Canadian rowing team in Victoria. The sport has taken De Witt around the world where he has participated in world championships and Pan-American games.
Once De Witt earned his degree in engineering he made the move to Tumbler Ridge, B.C. to work for a coal mining company, but he eventually yearned to participate in the sport once again.
De Witt made the decision to relocate to Calgary where we began rowing and competing again. His fitness testing and performance in local races caught the attention of the University Race Team selection committee and he was invited to join the 2014 International University Sports Federation (FISU) men’s 8 rowing team.
In order to qualify, De Witt had to register for a masters degree in engineering at UBC and will be resuming his studies in August.
De Witt will be traveling with the other university rowing crews to race The River Aa in Gravelines, northern France as part of the World University Rowing Championships.
Now back in the sport, De Witt has his sights set on Olympic competition.
“We are a long way away” De Witt admits, “but with some hard work we could get to the senior level and then start working towards Olympic racing.”
