This month, Queen’s added to its autumn of success, this time earning victory on the water.
From Nov. 1 to 2, the Queen’s women’s and men’s rowing programs travelled to Montreal, QC., to compete at the 2025 Canadian University Rowing Championship. The women were dominant, earning three gold medals and two silver medals to finish first overall.
The men established themselves as a force, too, earning a silver medal and a bronze medal to finish fifth overall. The win for the women is Queen’s first at the event since 2007, and only its second since the competition’s inception in ’97. In the last 16 competitions, the women’s competition’s only been won by three schools: the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, and Western University.
This year, the women put themselves 19 points ahead of Western in the overall competition. In the Lightweight 2x, Julia Teixeria, ArtSci ’28, and Gillian Jansen, ArtSci ’26, took home gold, finishing five seconds ahead of the runner-ups from Victoria. Just hours later, the duo came back for more, joining Isidora Ferguson, ArtSci ’26, Isabel Geiger, ArtSci ’27, and Nicole Schmidt, Nurs ’27, to win gold in the Lightweight 4+. Later that day, Teixeria raced one more time, clinching silver in the Lightweight 1x, finishing just three seconds behind Isabel Izquierdo-Bernier from l’Université de Montréal.
Teixeria’s performance earned her the honour of being the Canadian University Rowing Association’s Athlete of the Year, as she left the competition with two golds and a silver medal after a stellar season overall.
Her success came as no surprise to Queen’s rowing head coach Scott Feddery. “Julia is an absolutely dominant rower and has been for a number of years,” Feddery said in an interview with The Journal. He discussed the difficulties of competing in three events at the national stage, with such an effort requiring six races in three days. “It’s tough to do,” he said, “But she was right away like, ‘I want to do all three. I’m up for it.’”
Notably, it’s the first time in program history that the Gaels won in the Women’s 8+, a feat that didn’t go unnoticed by Feddery and his team. “I knew before the season started that we’d never won that event at nationals,” Feddery said. “After our time trial on Saturday, I told the women they had a real opportunity to make history. Not to turn the screws tighter, but to make them aware.”
The women made history, but the coach also noted another plus of earning gold in the 8+. “What’s super cool is that everybody on the women’s side who raced won a gold medal,” Feddery said, noting that it means everyone on the team felt even more proud of their group’s triumph.
Feddery also credited the men, who earned silver at the Men’s Lightweight 2x and bronze at the Men’s Lightweight 4x, earning them a top-five finish at the national level.
“I’m quite proud of all the guys and how they raced,” Feddery said. “The men’s field is incredibly deep right now, but we’ve made real strides. My goal is for the guys to experience the same high the women got this year.”
At the event, Feddery was named the CURA’s Women’s Crew Coach of the Year, thanks to the dominant performances by his program. This comes after he was named Women’s Coach of the Year at the OUA level as well.
Despite the successes and honours, the coach remained humble and credited his team when talking about the awards. “I’m tremendously honoured, but an award like that is really a reflection of the team,” Feddery said. “I can’t do what I do without the other coaches around me. While I get the recognition here, they should get as much of this as I do.”
The powerhouse program now shifts to daily indoor training, as they look to maintain their status when the ice melts for the 2026 season. “The fun challenge now,” Feddery said, “is wanting to win next year more than everyone else wants to take us down.”
Tags
Canadian University Rowing Championship, Julia Teixeria, Rowing, Scott Feddery
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