Weekend Wrap: Women’s 8+ Win Silver in Paris
For the second consecutive Olympics the members of the Canadian women’s eight will be bringing an Olympic medal home with them.
The colour of the medal this time around is silver, after an exciting final that saw the Canadian women finish second behind Romania in a time of 5:58.84. Both the Romanian and Canadian boats got out to a quick start in Saturday’s final and were neck and neck through the first 500m as Romania led by just .05 seconds at the quarter-point of the race. But as the race progressed the Romanians gradually increased their lead at the 1000m and 1500m marks, and finished ahead of Canada in a time of 5:54.39. Great Britain claimed the bronze medal in a time of 5:59.51.
The Canadian crew of Jessica Sevick, Caileigh Filmer, Maya Meschkuleit (Mississauga), Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys, Sydney Payne (Toronto), Kristina Walker (Wolfe Island), Abby Dent (Kenora), and coxswain Kristen Kit (St. Catharines) improved steadily throughout the Olympic regatta after beginning their campaign with a third-place finish in their opening heat on Monday, July 29. In Thursday’s repechage, the crew looked strong and led for most of the race before finishing just behind the US in second place to advance to the final. Racing just before 11am local time at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in Paris, the Canadian squad put it all together in Saturday’s final as they looked locked-in from the opening horn and celebrated an Olympic medal after crossing the finish line for the second time in three years. Gruchalla-Wesierski, Payne, Wasteneys, and Kit were all members of the gold medal-winning women’s eight at the Tokyo Olympics while Filmer also became a two-time Olympic medalist after winning bronze in the women’s pair in Tokyo. Sevick and Walker earn their first Olympic medal in their second Olympic Games while Meschkuleit and Dent earned themselves a silver medal in their Olympic Games debut.
The women’s lightweight doubles crew of Jenny Casson (Kingston) and Jill Moffatt (Bethany) rebounded from a disappointing semi-final on Wednesday and delivered a solid effort in Friday’s B Final to finish their Olympic regatta in eighth place. The Canadian duo battled with the home crowd favourite France throughout the race and crossed the line just a second behind the French in a time of 7:03.24. Casson and Moffatt were competing in their second-consecutive Olympics together after finishing in 12th place in Tokyo.
A total of 15 countries earned rowing medals at the 2024 Olympics, with the Netherlands (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) and Great Britain (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) atop the standings with eight medals apiece.
As the biggest event in the sporting world was running in Paris, the biggest event on the Canadian domestic rowing calendar was also taking place as the 140th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta was hosted from Martindale Pond in St. Catharines from July 29 – Aug. 4.
The annual event featured 112 clubs and almost 2000 entries from across Canada, the United States as well as several crews from Mexico, Argentina, and El Salvador. A total of 23 Ontario clubs participated in the regatta, with the St. Catharines Rowing Club entering the most boats with 81.
The SCRC was also the top-performing club of the regatta in terms of gold medals, winning seven on their home course. The six-day regatta featured many competitive races and the depth of the field was evidenced by a total of 30 different clubs earning first-place finishes across the wide variety of race divisions. Other Ontario clubs winning gold medals were Brock Rowing (5), Ridley College (5), Kingston Rowing Club (4), Don Rowing Club (2), Peterborough Rowing Club (2), Sudbury Rowing Club (2), South Niagara Rowing Club (1), Western University (1), Notre Dame Rowing Club (1), and Niagara Falls Rowing Club (1).
For full results from the 2024 Olympic Regatta, visit World Rowing
For full results from the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, visit RegattaCentral
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
Picture is property of Kevin Light / COC.
