After 35 years and 26 Olympic medals, Canada's National Rowing teams will no longer be training at Elk lake.
Rowing Canada Aviron says they are moving their training facility to Quamichan lake in North Cowichan.
Canada's rowing team have been training on Elk lake since the 1984 Olympics, but last May, Rowing Canada decided it was time for a change. Ten Expressions of Interest were submitted from communities who wanted to host the elite boaters, and of those, five followed up with proposals in September.
Terry Dillon, CEO of Rowing Canada, says there were a few reasons that made Quamichan lake the easy choice.
"The lake itself is a bigger lake. There's less pressure on the lake in terms of other users. It's a three and a half kilometre lake, and it's a sort of oval shape, so it means that even within that distance, there's the ability to have different groups of athletes operating on the lake in different parts. That's a big part of it."
Dillon says North Cowichan is offering a full package, with complementary dry-land training facilities and a dedicated boathouse.
He adds that they will also be able to easily access Shawnigan lake, which they have partnered with and used as a backup in the past. They will aslo still be within driving distance to other facilities they use, like PISE at Camosun's Interurban campus.
The Quamichan lake facilities won't be fully operational until after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.