ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - On Sunday, September 27^th the Brock University Rowing Team will be christening six boats and will name another after their latest member of Team Canada. The event will take place at the Henley Island Boathouse at 2pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

“This is a very special day for Brock University rowing,” said head coach Peter Somerwil. “Each year we try and recognize those individuals who have been a big part of the Brock and St. Catharines Rowing community. Without the dedication of these student-athletes, coaches and volunteers rowing would not be as popular and central as it has been in St. Catharines.  The history of Brock Rowing has a proud and rich tradition of excellence and as we move forward we will continue to provide a strong program and honour those that have been a part of it.”

On this special occasion, Brock will be christening a women's lightweight 8 after former Olympian and Brock assistant coach Kathy Lichty-Boyes. Lichty-Boyes had a stellar rowing career, which included competing for the Canadian National Team from 1977-86. She was named to the Olympic Team in 1980, during the boycott year, and was a member of the 1984 Olympic crew. Throughout her career she also captured many gold medals at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. From 2001-03 she was an assistant coach with the Brock Women's Team. Lichty-Boyes is still active in the high school and Club scene.

There will also be four pairs named after longtime community volunteers in the St. Catharines rowing community. The first pair will be the Marilyn and Jim Minards. The second pair will be the Barb and Don Baker. Each of these couples have over 50 years of volunteer service and are still active in the rowing community. The third pair will be named after Bill “Bunny” Bunston, who passed away last year and had close to 50 years of service. The fourth pair will be named the Bob Kuhns, an individual who has 20 years of medical service in rowing. He has provided the rowing community with the top medical services of any Regatta in North America since the late 80's.

Brock will also christen a fifth pair after rowing supporter Roelof Makken. Mr. Makken was the donor of the pairs for the Brock Rowing Team. Makken is a Brock graduate (BA in Economics with distinction, BAdmin in Finance, honours) and is a current member of the Brock University Board of Trustees.

Brock Rowing has had a proud tradition of naming singles after Brock student-athletes that started at Brock and represented Canada at the World Championships.  The Badgers will name one of their singles the Travis King. King is still a member of the Badgers and this past summer represented Canada at the Under-23 World Championships in the Czech Republic.