VICTORIA - Who is Daniel Mielecki and why should you know his name?
Mielecki is a third-year University of Victoria men's rower who just last month broke the Vikes 2-kilometre erg record once held by two-time Olympian Kai Langerfeld. With a time of 5:55.4, Mielecki shattered the 12-year-old record and now sits among an elite class of rowers to hit that mark. What's more impressive—he did so having never rowed a day in his life before landing at UVic.
At 6'8", Mielecki is hard to miss, and that's what caught the eye of the Vikes men's rowing program when the engineering student arrived on campus three years ago. Approached to try out for the men's novice rowing team, Mielecki declined, choosing instead to focus on his studies as he adjusted to the demands of first-year university and the civil engineering program.
Mielecki played volleyball and basketball at Belmont Secondary in Victoria before gravitating towards the weight room in his later high school years and into his first year of university. Athleticism runs in the family: his father rowed in Poland, and his sister played rugby at Dalhousie University.
He had the size, the strength, and the athletic pedigree, but rowing would have to wait.
Despite his turning down the initial invitation, the men's rowing program kept Mielecki on their radar. As the 2022-23 school year wrapped up, the team captains reached out again, nudging him to consider giving rowing a try. This time, Mielecki took it to heart.
He spent the summer building up his cardio and showed up to novice tryouts in the fall of 2023. What happened next stunned even the veterans. His very first 2-kilometre erg test, the baseline measure of rowing fitness, was a 6:10.5. For perspective, that's a number most seasoned rowers spend years trying to chase down. For a rookie with absolutely no experience, it was remarkable, and Mielecki was hooked.
Coaches are accustomed to seeing flashes of raw potential, but this was impressive. In a sport where progress is measured in fractions of a second, Mielecki was learning the ropes on the water and lopping off chunks of time in a matter of months.
"It was a big adjustment and change of lifestyle for me. There are a lot of sacrifices that come with competing at this level and training to be the best. Rowing is my life right now, and there isn't a lot of room for things outside of school and training," said Mielecki.
By February 2024, he had already carved six seconds off his 2-kilometre erg time, dropping to 6:04. The trajectory looked unstoppable, until it wasn't. A mid-season injury sidelined him through the summer, halting what felt like a rocket getting set to launch.
He returned in time for the 2024-25 season and by February 2025 pulled a 6:00.7 on the erg. That winter, he joined the Vikes at training camp in Strathcona, preparing to compete at the much anticipated Brown Cup head race vs the University of British Columbia. At the same time, he learned of opportunities to represent Canada at the under-23 level.
Illness cost him the chance to race in the Brown Cup that spring, but it didn't derail his ascent. Instead, he found himself at under 23 national team pre-camps, testing his mettle alongside some of the best young athletes in the country. By June, he was fully immersed at Shawnigan Lake, training shoulder to shoulder with members of Canada's senior men's squad and aiming to qualify for the World Rowing U23 Championship—which they did.
Then came the unlikeliest debut. In July 2025, less than two years after first picking up an oar, Mielecki lined up at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Poznań, Poland. His first true 2,000-metre race wasn't at Elk Lake or a small regatta. It was on the world stage, in front of thousands.
While the team didn't achieve the result they were hoping for in Poznań, Mielecki says he learned a lot, most critically, the importance of team camaraderie, communication, and the collective buy-in required to pursue a common goal.
Just three weeks after returning home from the world championships, back home in Victoria, Mielecki dropped the hammer again — the 5:55.4 erg score that broke Langerfeld's 12-year-old record was the boost of confidence needed heading into the 2025-26 season.
"It felt good, but I think I can hit the 5:50 mark. It's cool to know that I'm at a level where I can aspire to compete at the next level and that what I want to achieve is in the realm of possibility."
Mielecki has set big goals for himself, but admits he still has a lot to learn and looks forward to doing so with his Vikes teammates.
"The highlight [of my rowing journey] has been having this group of high-quality teammates and friends. We share the same aspirations and are all hungry for this experience. My teammates are now my best friends who I get to spend all my time with, and it's truly one of the best group of guys I've ever been around in my life."
