It's an exciting time to be a member of the Howe family.
 
Last week, veteran Manitoba Bisons swimmer Ella represented her country and showed out for U SPORTS as part of the inaugural Canada–Great Britain University Dual Meet. The historic event took place from July 3–4 in Loughborough, England, featuring some of the top Canadian and British university swimmers in thrilling head-to-head international competition.
 
Howe raced in her signature event, the 50 metre freestyle, and also contributed during the relay portion of the event, helping Canada bring home the team title.
 
It was the most recent accomplishment for the swimming sensation, in what was an incredible year in the pool.
 
At the beginning of June, she took part in Canadian Swimming Trials for the second consecutive year, reaching the B final in the 50 free, finishing 13^th overall. The A and B finals featured a loaded field, with Olympians Penny Oleksiak and Taylor Ruck going 1-2.
 
"I didn't make the finals last year, so it was fun to make it this year," reflected Howe. "It was also fun seeing Penny and Taylor Ruck, they were all in the ready room before you go out for your final. You're in a curtained off area for the A and B heats. All the swimmers in the A heats were familiar faces growing up. It was really cool to see them in their prep."
 
The Saskatoon product raced long course during trials in Victoria, as well as in England. It was a shift from her U SPORTS season, where she raced short course. During that time, she broke the school record in the 50 free, with a time of 25.46 seconds, and qualified for the A final at nationals in both the 50 and 100 free (also swam a personal best).
 
Howe was less than three tenths of a second shy of silver in the 50, and less than five tenths shy of silver in the 100, proving once again why she's one of the top talents in the country in the freestyle.
 
"She brushed shoulders with the best U SPORTS swimmers in the country and England. When you're a competitor and you want to do well, you can't help but walk away from that experience learning. It's going to be a good stepping stone for her going into next season," mentioned Bisons head coach Vlastik Cerny.
 
"She works. She's here all the time. She does all the work, and she learns. Her maturity has also gone up as an athlete."


 
Ella, 21, isn't the only Howe who's been putting on a show in the water. Her older sister Pepper, 23, is set to represent Canada in rowing at the FISU Summer World University Games in the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany from July 25-27.
 
Pepper recently helped the Victoria Vikes bring home a third consecutive Canadian University Rowing Championship, and will race for Canada in the double skull event. She's also earned medals at the National Rowing Championships, Canada Summer Games and numerous regattas, among many other accolades.
 
Pepper's accomplishments are particularly impressive, considering she didn't start in the sport until January of 2020.
 
"I swam with Ella all throughout elementary and close to high school. I wanted to find a new sport to pursue. My cousin Max, he had just started rowing a year prior. My aunt was like 'you're tall, you could try rowing out, Max our cousin loves it.' I gave it a shot. I had no idea what it was about," said the 6'1" standout.
 
"I brought my cousin to his training one day and I met the coach and decided to try it out. They were on the rowing machines at the time. I came to like it really quick. We went to go on the water in May of that year. I loved it on the water as well."
 
A year later, Pepper – then training with the Saskatoon Rowing Club – earned her first invite to the Canadian University Championships, and not long after, she packed up and headed west to train at the Next Gen Performance Centre in BC, where she brushed shoulders with some of the best in the sport.
 
"I went out and trained there in the winter of 2023 with Terry Paul who was a former national team coach. The people I was training with were going to the Pan Am Qualification Regatta, so it was pretty cool to train alongside those boats. And then the following fall I continued with the centre. I officially started at UVic in January of 2024," she said.
 
"It's a late entry sport. I do have teammates who rowed in high school. For me it definitely was quick. I got invited to my first U23 national team trials after I had only been rowing for two years, in the spring of 2022."


 
'It's brought us closer together'
Growing up, the pair of standout athletes were used to being around the water. Their mom did triathlons, which was how they originally got into swimming. Their great uncle and cousin also rowed together, and their previously mentioned cousin Max, is also a rower at Victoria.
 
Max's younger brother Calvin, 18, has also earned a FISU spot on the men's rowing team, joining Pepper in Germany.
 
"Even the ones that aren't rowing are still entered in some sort of sport," mentioned Pepper.

"Everyone is always busy with activities in our families. Growing up, our cousin Calvin also swam for short period of time. It's been super unique."
 
"Growing up my mom would always be in triathlons, so she would always be at the pool. We're kind of lucky. Growing up, our parents were not the type of parents with their hands on a clipboard looking at times and stuff though. We always had independent goals, Pepper and I," added Ella.
 
"It was us who had to push ourselves. I love that we all have sport to bond over. It's brought us closer together."
 
The hard work has paid off for Pepper and Ella. The former has been training in Montreal since the beginning of May, embracing the opportunity to don the red and white for the first time.
 
"I'm honoured that I get to represent Canada this summer. It's something that I've been working for for quite a few years now. To finally get the opportunity, I'm really excited. This is the next step in my journey to making the Senior National Team, which is my bigger goal," she said.
 
"I think it's so cool that Calvin got this opportunity too. He's only 18 and he had made a Junior B team last summer. To be able to go Germany and be on Team Canada with him, I'm pumped to get to do that."
 
Meanwhile in the pool, the versatile Ella is primed for another sensational year at the U SPORTS level. She's been training consistently all summer, and was "right up there" with Olympian Kayla Sanchez from UBC in the first 25 metres of the 50 free final at nationals.
 
"The 50 is right up her alley. She's learning to race longer events also. She performed quite well at U SPORTS in the 100," noted Cerny, who's helped numerous Bisons achieve their Olympic dreams, most recently Kelsey Wog.
 
"The 100 and the 200, she's brought up her performance in those events. She's not just a sprinter, I think next year she could easily be in the 200 finals as well."
 
"I think training this far into the summer will help me, I'm excited to see how it will go this next year," added Ella. "I've been coming to the pool regularly."