Inside the September 17 vote by Rowing Canada Aviron member clubs — who joins, who departs, and what the refreshed board now oversees.
The RCA Board of Directors has been refreshed following a vote by Rowing Canada Aviron member club delegates at the national federation’s Annual Meeting on September 17, 2026. Janet Bolton was elected as a Director at Large, Charles Minett was re-elected to a Director at Large seat, and Dr. Volker Nolte was confirmed in the position of Provincial Director.
All three positions carry three-year terms concluding in 2029. The results were published by the organization on September 18, 2026, alongside a formal acknowledgement of two outgoing directors whose terms have now ended.
What Delegates Decided at the September 17 Annual Meeting
Rowing Canada Aviron’s governance model places the election of directors in the hands of its member clubs, and the September 17 meeting followed that process. Delegates voted on the Director at Large positions and separately confirmed the Provincial Director appointment.
Two seats were filled through the Director at Large vote — one by a newly elected director and one by an incumbent returning for a further term. The confirmation of the Provincial Director rounded out the changes announced from the meeting.
The federation has made the full recording of the 2026 Annual Meeting available to its community, together with a separate recording of its Financial Statements Overview Meeting. No additional board changes were reported as part of the announcement.
Janet Bolton Joins as a Director at Large
Janet Bolton is the only newly elected face on the board following this cycle. She takes a Director at Large seat with a term running to 2029.
As with other candidates in the election, Bolton’s nomination was supported by a candidate video and a written candidate statement circulated to member clubs ahead of the vote, giving delegates a common basis on which to compare nominees. Further biographical detail was not included in the federation’s announcement.
Charles Minett Returns for a New Three-Year Term
Charles Minett was re-elected as a Director at Large, giving the board a measure of continuity heading into the next governance cycle. His new term also runs to 2029.
Retaining an experienced director alongside a new appointee is a common pattern on national sport boards, where staggered terms are used to avoid replacing institutional knowledge all at once. A candidate video and written statement were likewise available to delegates for Minett’s nomination.
Dr. Volker Nolte Confirmed as Provincial Director
Member clubs also voted to confirm Dr. Volker Nolte in the role of Provincial Director, serving a three-year term ending in 2029. The Provincial Director position is distinct from the Director at Large seats and is intended to reflect the provincial level of the sport within the national board structure.
A candidate video accompanied Nolte’s nomination. The announcement did not list a separate written candidate statement for the Provincial Director position.
Tracey Black Thanks Mike Bryden and Derek Ventnor
The election also marked the conclusion of board service for Mike Bryden and Derek Ventnor. RCA President Tracey Black used the meeting to acknowledge both directors directly.
“I’d like to sincerely thank Mike Bryden and Derek Ventnor for their time, commitment, and service to the RCA Board,” Black said. “We’re grateful for the contributions you have both made during your time on the Board and for the dedication you have shown to our organization and the broader rowing community.”
Turning to the incoming and returning directors, Black added: “congratulations, we look forward to the expertise, leadership, and perspective you’ll bring to the RCA Board of Directors.”
Who Now Sits on the RCA Board
Following the September 17 vote, the board is composed of eight directors, combining elected at-large seats with athlete, provincial and officer roles.
| Director | Position |
|---|---|
| Tracey Black | President |
| Janet Bolton | Director at Large |
| Sander Grieve, K.C. | Director at Large |
| Aaron Lattimer | Athlete Director |
| Charles Minett | Director at Large |
| Dr. Volker Nolte | Provincial Director |
| Jane Stamp | Director at Large, Treasurer |
| Eric Sudman | Secretary |
The mix is notable for what it says about the organization’s governance design: legal, financial and athlete perspectives all hold defined seats rather than being treated as advisory add-ons.
How Director at Large and Athlete Seats Work on Sport Boards
This section is general industry context rather than a description of Rowing Canada Aviron’s specific bylaws. Across Canada’s national sport organizations, boards are typically built from a blend of seats designed to balance independence with representation.
- Directors at Large: Usually elected by the membership and chosen for skills the board needs overall — finance, law, governance, risk or commercial experience — rather than to represent one region or club.
- Athlete directors: Increasingly standard in Canadian sport governance, giving current or recent competitors a formal vote at the table rather than consultation after decisions are made.
- Provincial or regional directors: Provide a channel between national strategy and the provincial associations and clubs that deliver the sport day to day.
- Officer roles: President, Treasurer and Secretary carry defined statutory and financial oversight duties under not-for-profit corporate law.
- Staggered terms: Multi-year terms that expire in different years are used so a board is never fully rebuilt in a single meeting.
Board composition has become a live topic well beyond amateur sport. In the corporate arena, organizations are similarly recruiting directors for specific expertise, as seen when Cresco Labs added former CBOE chief Edward Tilly to its board to bring exchange and regulatory experience into the room.
Financial Statements and Meeting Recordings Released to Members
Alongside the election results, Rowing Canada Aviron pointed members to its audited financial statements and the accompanying Report of the Auditor, which are published for review. A recording of the Financial Statements Overview Meeting has also been made available, as has the full recording of the 2026 Annual Meeting.
Publishing audited statements and meeting recordings is part of the transparency expectation now attached to federally funded national sport bodies. Member clubs, athletes and funding partners can review the numbers directly rather than relying on a summary. Specific financial figures were not included in the board announcement itself and are set out in the published statements.
The Operating Backdrop the New Board Inherits
The incoming directors take their seats at a busy moment for the organization. Days before the Annual Meeting, on September 15, 2026, the federation announced that its National Training Centre boathouse had received a major sponsorship gift from the Lindsay Family Foundation — a capital project that will require board-level oversight through construction and into operation.
On the competitive side, Canadian crews claimed gold and bronze at the FISU championships on home water in August 2026, a result reported by the federation the same month. Between infrastructure, high-performance results and the safe sport framework the organization maintains, the board’s agenda through the 2029 terms is unlikely to be quiet.
For member clubs, the practical takeaway is straightforward: the directors elected on September 17 will be the people signing off on how those priorities are funded and sequenced over the next three years. The candidate statements and videos used in the election, the audited financials and the meeting recordings all remain available through the federation’s member resources for anyone wanting to verify the detail firsthand.
