Weekend Wrap: Canada Qualifies Two Boats for 2024 Olympics
After eight days of spirited competition the 2023 World Rowing Championships wrapped up on Sunday with two Canadian boats having qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The World Rowing Championships took place from Sept. 3-10 in Belgrade, Serbia on the Ada Ciganlija Regatta Course. The event featured 12 open weight events, six lightweight categories and eight para categories as World Champions were crowned in 26 race classes. The Canadian team sent a total of ten boats to this year’s World Championships featuring a total of 39 rowers, 24 of which were from Ontario.
The women’s lightweight double of Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson were the first Canadian boat to punch their ticket to Paris by winning their semi-final race on Thursday in a time of 7:23.12. The victory earned the duo Canada’s first quota spot for the 2024 Olympic Games. After a day off, they returned to the regatta course on Saturday and turned in a personal best finish of fourth place in the final, the best finish by a Canadian boat. Moffatt and Casson are trending in the right direction heading into an Olympic year, after placing seventh at the 2022 World Championships and 12th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The following day it was the women’s eight’s turn to qualify for Paris as they battled fiercely to the finish line and secured the last quota spot available with a fifth-place finish. The crew, which features four Tokyo Olympics gold medalists, will look to fine tune their race form over the next ten months in hopes of battling for a medal in Paris.
A total of 20 nations won medals at the Worlds, including 10 nations with gold medals. The Netherlands topped the medal table with six gold and three silver medals; Great Britain also won six gold medals and added one silver and two bronzes.
A total of 25 nations qualified boats for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and 13 nations qualified boats for the Paralympic Games. The Romanians led the way with 11 boats qualified for the Olympics, while Great Britain and Australia had nine each; Great Britain and Germany both have four boats qualified for the Paralympics. The Final Qualification Regatta for the 2024 Olympics will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 19 – 21 May 2024.
Women’s Lightweight Double Scull (LW2x) – 4th in A Final
*Boat class qualified for Paris 2024 Olympics
Jill Moffatt – Western University Rowing Club / Ontario
Jennifer Casson – Kingston Rowing Club / Ontario
Women’s Coxed Eight (W8+) – 5th in A Final
*Boat class qualified for Paris 2024 Olympics
Morgan Rosts – Ridley Graduate Boat Club / Ontario
Cassidy Deane – Kingston Rowing Club / British Columbia
Avalon Wasteneys – University of Victoria Rowing Club / British Columbia
Sydney Payne – Brentwood College Rowing Club / Ontario
Kirsten Edwards – University of Victoria Rowing Club / British Columbia
Alexis Cronk – University of Victoria Rowing Club / British Columbia
Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski – Club d’Aviron Knowlton / Alberta
Jessica Sevick – University of British Columbia / Calgary Rowing Club / Alberta
Kristen Kit (cox) – University of British Columbia / St. Catharines Rowing Club / Ontario
Men’s Coxed Eight (M8+) – 2nd in B Final (8th Overall)
Will Crothers – Kingston Rowing Club / Ontario
Jakub Buczek – St. Catharines Rowing Club / Ontario
Curtis Ames – Calgary Rowing Club / Alberta
Gavin Stone – Queen’s University Rowing Club / Island Lake Rowing Club / Ontario
Cody Bailey – London Western Rowing Club / Ontario
Liam Keane – Victoria City Rowing Club / British Columbia
Joel Cullen – University of British Columbia / University of Washington / British Columbia
Ryan Clegg – Western University Rowing Club / Ontario
Laura Court (cox) – St. Catharines Rowing Club / Ontario
Women’s Coxless Four (W4-) – 4th in B Final (10th Overall)
Rebecca Zimmerman – University of Victoria Rowing Club / Brockville Rowing Club / Ontario
Kristen Siermachesky – Brockville Rowing Club / BC NextGen Performance Centre / Ontario
Kristina Walker – Kingston Rowing Club / University of British Columbia Rowing Club / Ontario
Piper Battersby – Victoria City Rowing Club / University of Victoria Rowing Club / British Columbia
Women’s Quadruple Scull (W4x) – 4th in B Final (10th Overall)
Shannon Kennedy – London Western Rowing Club / Ontario
Grace VandenBroek – Peterborough Rowing Club / Trent University / Ontario
Carling Zeeman – Sudbury Rowing Club / Ontario
Elisa Bolinger – University of Western Ontario / Ontario
Women’s Double Scull (W2x) – 3rd in C Final (15th Overall)
Katie Clark – University of British Columbia Rowing Club / British Columbia
Marilou Duvernay-Tardif – Knowlton Rowing Club / Quebec
Men’s Quadruple Scull (M4x) – 5th in C Final (17th Overall)
Liam Smit – University of British Columbia Rowing Club / South Africa / British Columbia
Terek Been – Montreal Rowing Club / Quebec
Steven Rosts – Ridley Graduate Boat Club / Ontario
Daniel De Groot – St. Catharines Rowing Club / Ontario
Women’s Coxless Pair (W2-) – 6th in C Final (18th Overall)
Caileigh Filmer – University of Victoria Rowing Club / British Columbia
Maya Meschkuleit – Don Rowing Club / Ontario
Men’s Coxless Pair (M2-) – 3rd in D Final (21st Overall)
Josh King – Ottawa Rowing Club / Ontario
Luke Gadsdon – Leander Boat Club / Brock University / Ontario
Men’s Single Scull (M1x) – DNS in D Final – Medical Withdrawal
Trevor Jones – Peterborough Rowing Club / Ontario
On the domestic front, the head race season kicked off in fine form with the Muskoka Fall Classic from Gravenhurst, ON on Saturday, Sept. 9. The event, which is hosted by the Georgian Bay Rowing Club, featured over 202 entries from 19 clubs.
The Don Rowing Club turned in a solid regatta, earning the most gold medals of any club with ten. The Leander Boat Club and Argonaut Rowing Club were next on the gold medal list with eight, followed by McMaster University with three. Other clubs claiming gold medals included the Peterborough Rowing Club (2), Hanlan Boat Club (2), Orillia Rowing Club (2), Georgian Bay Boat Club (2), and an Argos’/Barrie Rowing Club composite crew with one.
For full results from the 2023 World Rowing Championships, visit World Rowing
For full results from the Muskoka Fall Classic, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Photo is property of Rowing Canada Aviron.
