especially proud to have helped bring the documentary A Most Beautiful Thing to the Canadian Sport Film Festival. Based on the memoir of Arshay Cooper, the film chronicles the development of the first African American high school rowing team, many of whom came from rival gangs in Chicago. “It’s such a powerful film,” she says. “It explores what team members overcame to take part in rowing and how the sport helped them re-imagine their future.” Kubet first became aware of Cooper’s story through her husband Craig McAllister, co- owner of Hudson Boat Works in London, Ontario. “Hudson donates boats to rowing clubs in non-traditional rowing communities to help
make the sport more accessible to marginalized youth,” Kubet explains. Kubet and her colleagues on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee hope to see more outreach efforts take shape in Canada in the future. “I want everyone to have the opportunity to access the sport of rowing,” she says. "Just opening the door to the sport as an athlete of colour isn’t enough. I need to invite others in and use my experiences to make the sport more welcoming and inclusive. As Arshay Cooper has said, ‘Talent is everywhere but access and opportunity are not.’” Looking back on her life, Kubet is proud of what she’s achieved, and thankful for the people who helped her get there.
“I had a lot of great teachers and coaches, and other people who believed in me when I was in Tillsonburg,” she says. “But it all started with my mom. She refused to accept the idea that brown skin was ‘less than’ and taught everyone around her to do the same.” After Kubet retired from competitive rowing, she worked with Rowing Canada, travelling as a physiotherapist internationally and working with elite athletes. Today, she’s the owner of Skye Health, an innovative health collective providing physiotherapy, massage therapy, and pilates classes to residents of London, Ontario. Her mother, Louise Weston, passed away in 2011.
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