“Generally, it’s hard to convince somebody to try a different sport. For some reason, I just jump in.”

Actually, Barbara Courtin has made a lifelong habit of jumping in with both feet, full tilt, no holds barred, no looking back, completely immersing herself in whatever adventure next awaits her.

Whether it be her involvement with the Canadian Ski Patrol or the Sudbury Yacht Club or the Sudbury Rowing Club, the 85 year-old native of Montreal has never been one to sit idle on the sidelines.

Though skiing and some form of water activities have always been part of her life - swimming predated any move to the vessels that meandered on the surface of rivers and lakes - it was basketball that was probably her go to in high school, leading to one year of varsity play at McGill.

But that love of the hardcourt followed Courtin south of the border, to the University of Illinois, where her husband, Gerard, continued his studies in forestry and environmental reclamation at the home of the Fighting Illini. “We went to all of the basketball games,” she said recently, sitting at a picnic table adjacent to the local vista that is the Northern Water Sports Centre.

“We never ever missed a game - they were amazing.”

In the late sixties, there may not have been a single spot in the entire province of Ontario that screamed environmental reclamation more than Sudbury. Yet for as barren as the landscape appeared, Gerard Courtin and others saw hope, the hope of regreening efforts that became a source of local pride, duplicated many times over, across the globe.

A lover of all things outdoors, Barbara wasted little time finding value in the lakes. “The first year we were here, neighbours of ours invited us to the (Sudbury) Yacht Club,” she said. “It became our cottage, our camp. For our kids, growing up, it was perfect.”

Sailing was a family affair, though physical distancing within the Courtin clan was en vogue, out on the water, long before the advent of COVID-19. “It was a great family thing, but we never sailed in the same boat,” Barbara laughed. “I did one regatta in North Bay with my husband. Ya - ... no.”

Initiating a sailing school at the local club as she increased her level of volunteer involvement, Courtin would return, year after year, a product of her socially outgoing nature at least as much as her natural athletic ability. “It was such a great group of people,” she said. “I think of the friendships that we developed, now still friends with a lot of them.”

And in the winters, when the lakes froze over, Courtin would tap into the memories of her youth and the slopes of the Laurentian Mountains. “My son was a ski patroller and the group that I downhill skied with in Onaping decided that on Wednesday afternoons, they would play bridge instead of skiing,” she recalled.

Prompted by said son, Barbara Courtin joined the Canadian Ski Patrol (CSP) in 1983. Within just a few years, she was an integral member of the executive of the Algonquin zone of the CSP. To this day, she remains active with the group, a testament to the incredible fitness of the energetic octogenarian.

In 1992 (or so), elements of both her summer and winter passions combined as Courtin accepted an initial invitation to come out and row with a group of eights. “My kids had grown up and left, and I was already canoeing and kayaking,” she said.

And so she jumped in, just as she always had.

“I seem to need that challenge of doing something different,” she stated. “Anything that is outdoors, on the water, hiking, cycling: I just do it.” Accentuate the beloved similarities and adapt to the wonderful uniqueness of each - that was her motto. “Sailing is totally different from rowing, but for me, the attraction, I guess, is being out on the water.”

“I don’t think I make a better rower than a sailor.” Or vice-versa.

Where she may rise above both, however, is her proficiency in helping the groups, away from the water. “With the Ski Patrol, I had some expertise in running meetings,” said Courtin, who first sat on the board of the Sudbury Rowing Club in 1994 (the club was founded in 1990-1991), now serving as a senior advisor to the group, filling the role of president for more years than she cares to remember.

“When I am in charge of anything, I try and get the right people around me to support me,” she added. “That makes things a lot easier.” While there are many who would fulfill that mandate over the years, especially given the variety of groups that Courtin has helped, few have done so quite as well as Neil Tarlton.

“He is very high on my list,” she said. “He was probably the backbone of my support at the (Sudbury Rowing) Club. He’s thorough and dependable, and just does such a good job.”

A regular pairs partner of France Gelinas, Courtin has, at various times, competed in singles events, as well as fours - though the bulk of her rowing activity in the past decade or so has been far more recreational in nature. Not surprisingly, maintaining that option as a viable athletic alternative in Sudbury has sat as her primary objective.

From the days of a single eight person craft locked away in a parking lot just below the old Sudbury General Hospital, on to an early stretch of owning four to five boats, the Sudbury Rowing Club now features some 15 watercrafts on premises. “Building membership was huge, but because of COVID, we’re almost back at square one,” said Courtin.

“That’s the issue right now, just getting bodies on the water, and not just at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. Evening rowing on Ramsay is difficult - boat traffic is scary.” Given that the lake is an open body of water, it’s very difficult to create a dedicated space for rowers - all of which means that in order to survive, these slower moving boats require some cooperation.

“I believe that it’s just a matter of education,” said Courtin. “We need to make an effort to educate boaters, and on the reverse side, to educate the canoers and paddlers and rowers.”

As she now hands over the proverbial gavel - Susan Bruce currently serves as club president - Courtin dreams of the days when rowing in Sudbury can be viewed in the same light as local paddling programs that rose to prominence, nation-wide, a half century ago.

“I would like to see rowing have a bigger profile in the city than it does,” she said. “Everyone still looks at it as an elite sport, an expensive sport. In fairness, membership is fairly high, only because our numbers are so low. We need to appeal more to the masses in order to exist and develop youth programs.”

Hopefully, some are willing to give rowing a shot. Barbara Courtin certainly did.