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Today Phil Perkins caught up with Canada’s national men’s and women’s rowing team in St. Catharines. Rowing is a part of the fabric of that community. Both teams met with the public at the Pen Centre in their only availability before they compete in the Pan Am Games . All 26 athletes and coaches from Canada’s national rowing teams exchanged their boats for photos and oars for pens as they met with their fans today.

For the first time in sixteen years, Canada’s national rowing teams will be competing in an international event on home soil – or in their case – home water. And they can’t wait to perform in front of their family and friends.

For Welland native Kerry Maher-Shaffer, these games take her full circle to when she first picked up the sport. “I almost get a little bit emotional about it in some ways because these are the people who helped raise me in the sport and I want to give back to them in some way.”

While rowing at home is a dream come true for St.Catharines native and Brock University grad Eric Woelfl, he’s also run into some issues. “I’ve been able to allocate tickets for my good friends and family. There’s still going to be people there that I miss. But the fact that I’m competing represents all the hard work that other people have helped me with to get to this point in my career.”

Ticket or no ticket, fans of Canada’s rowing teams are already cheering them on.