In a season full of strong winds for the Queen’s Varsity Sailing Team, it was a rookie sailor that made the biggest splash.
Queen’s sailing member Anna Powick, Sci ’29, was awarded both the 2025 Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association (CICSA) Rookie of the Year Female and the 2025 CICSA Female Crew of the Year awards.
In an interview with The Journal, Powick expressed that she was “super honoured” to be given both awards.
“I’m really flattered that people voted me for [the awards], but I wasn’t expecting that at all. The league is very competitive, and there’s a lot of really good people who were nominated who were also very deserving of the awards,” Powick stated.
The awards come after an already successful year for Powick and her teammates. In October the team hosted and won the CICSA Team Racing National Championships, as well as winning the Women’s Fleet Racing Event in Montreal. They followed that up with a second place finish a month later at the Fleet Race Nationals in Halifax, losing only to Dalhousie University. In March, the team finished second at the Match Racing National Championship in Vancouver, losing again to Dalhousie.
Powick credited a lot of her individual and team’s success to the group’s inviting and supportive environment.
“It’s definitely competitive, but I just always felt like there was a very big emphasis that we all grow together as a team.”
Despite being a rookie, Powick was able to get along with the other sailors right away, even using their experience to help her own sailing.
“I was definitely nervous going into it but once I kind of met everyone, I never felt like anyone was ever gatekeeping or anything. People were always super willing to talk through what made them fast, or how they had success” Powick said.
While Powick states that her teammates are her biggest supporters, she also gives credit to the team’s coach Danielle Boyd, as well as her parents, for helping her throughput her sailing career.
Powick also made sure to emphasize that her awards reflected the team’s accomplishments, and not just her own personal success.
“I was happy that it brought recognition to the team” Powick noted. “Yeah, I ended up with [the awards] or whatever, but none of that could have been possible without the people I had around me.”
Despite school being out, Powick still trains and coaches with the Kingston Yacht Club over the summer and travels across Canada with the club to keep her sailing skills sharp.
Powick is optimistic about what the next season holds for the Queen’s Varsity Sailing Team.
“I know for certain that next year the team is going to continue to push to do well and be really competitive in the fleet. Our presidents this year have a really strong plan for us moving forward [to continue] representing Queen’s,” Powick said.
She’s hopeful for more smooth sailing for both her and the team as next season approaches.
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