VICTORIA -When Kate Watson signed up for a "learn to row" session in Grade 8, a spot on a Netflix show was about the furthest thing from her mind. Yet years later, the third-year University of Victoria rower found herself helping to bring the sport of rowing to life for millions of viewers.

When Netflix came to Victoria to film Crew Girl, its hit rowing drama and Canada's current No. 1 show, producers needed real athletes who could make the sport look authentic.

Watson was one of them, serving as the body double for lead actor Miku Martineau and her character, Teagan Tao. Alongside a contingent of Vikes men's and women's rowers who appeared as extras, she helped translate years of training on the water into scenes seen by audiences around the world.
 
"Rowing isn't a job, and you don't get paid much even at the highest level, so it was cool to be able to use my sport and the thing that I work really hard for to actually make money," says Watson.

The opportunity came through Victoria City Rowing Club, where Watson first learned to row years earlier and where the Vikes now train. As filming preparations got underway, the production was looking for extras, including a body double for the show's lead. Watson, who shares a similar appearance with Martinau, was identified as a strong match for the role.

Suddenly, the sport she had spent years mastering opened the door to an unexpected opportunity in the film industry.

"I knew the show was about rowing, obviously, but I didn't know a single thing about the story or the script—but you pick up a lot of things as you go along," she says.

Her first stint on set lasted about two and a half weeks in September 2025, with another week of filming in December. The days were long, often 10 to 12 hours, but the actual rowing could be measured in minutes. According to Watson, the waiting was the hardest part of the job.

The days weren't always the same, but a typical day could mean arriving on set around 8:00 a.m. after practice, going straight to hair and makeup and then waiting, and waiting some more. And then, sometimes as late as 7:00 p.m., it would be time to jump in the boat and film.

"I would have to sit outside all day, without Wi-Fi, so I couldn't even do homework. It was the beginning of the school year too, so I would get home at 9:00 p.m. and have to do schoolwork before waking up for practice the next morning," Watson says. "But the crew was great; they fed us well and always made sure I was warm and comfortable."

The production, which showcases much of Victoria, transformed familiar rowing territory into something new. The boathouse was painted and covered in decals, while Elk Lake and the Selkirk Gorge Waterway became the backdrop for the show's rowing scenes.
 
For one scene, Watson had to fake "catching a crab", a rowing term used when a rower's oar blade gets stuck or trapped beneath the water's surface. For another, she rowed her single around Elk Lake while a drone captured footage from above. There were racing scenes, too, where she and other rowers were asked to pull hard or go easy while production captured the specific shots it needed.

And the Vikes were everywhere in the background—including the UVic women's assistant coach Nicole Cusack, who worked with the production to help teach the actors to row.

Watson says she wasn't nervous rowing in front of the cameras, but that she was worried about the potential commentary once the show came out. "I've been rowing my whole life, but I was nervous people would critique my technique," she says. "It's actually really challenging to do certain things on camera, using clunky old equipment that you're not used to—I've also never purposefully tried to catch a crab."

Then came the surreal part.

When Crew Girl was released, Watson could finally see what all those long days of waiting had been for. Seeing herself on screen was strange enough, but seeing her teammates and friends in the background made it even more bizarre. "It's so trippy to see myself, and the men's rowers and my friends' faces in the background," she says.
 
More than anything, she was happy to see her sport get some airtime.  "Whatever people might think of the show, it's still super cool to see rowing on TV."

While her brief stint in television is behind her, Watson's focus is once again on the water as she prepares for the university season and another run at a national championship with the Vikes. Still, despite the long hours and waiting around that came with life on set, she says she'd gladly return for Crew Girl season two.