Weekend Wrap: Women’s 8+ Win World Championship Bronze
The 2022 World Rowing Championships ended on a high note for the Canadian national rowing team as the women’s eight brought home the bronze medal on Sunday.
The week-long World Championships ran from Sept. 18-25 in Racice, Czechia and the Canadian team featured nine crews and 35 athletes. The Canadian team delivered several impressive performances throughout the event, but it was the women’s 8+ that stole the show winning the only medal for Canada. The eight, which consisted of Alexis Cronk, Kirsten Edwards, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Sydney Payne, Morgan Rosts, Jessica Sevick, Gabrielle Smith, Avalon Wasteneys, and Kristen Kit (coxswain), earned the bronze medal in a time of 6:07.59, coming in behind Romania (6:01.14) who claimed the victory, and the Netherlands (6:05.04) who took home silver. They advanced to the final by placing second in their preliminary heat earlier in the week. The men’s eight was the next highest placing Canadian boat finishing in fifth place in a time of 5:30.71.
Other results for Canada included the lightweight women’s double – 7th place, men’s single – 10th place, men’s double – 11th place, women’s double – 11th place, women’s pair – 11th place, women’s four – 13th place, lightweight women’s single – 16th place, women’s single – 16th place. Of the 35 Canadian athletes on the team, 18 came from Ontario rowing backgrounds.
On the domestic front three regattas took place over the weekend. The Western Invitational Regatta (London – Fanshawe Lake) and Head of the Welland (Welland International Flatwater Centre – North Course) ran on Saturday, while the Head of the Rideau (Ottawa – Rideau River) took place on Sunday.
The Western Invitational Regatta featured over 100 entries from seven university programs (Western, Brock, Waterloo, McMaster, Guelph, U of T, and Waterloo) as well as members of the LaSalle Rowing Club and was hosted by the UWO Boat Club. The Head of the Welland featured 262 entries from 22 clubs from across Ontario and the United States. The Notre Dame Rowing Club earned the most medals winning 26 (15 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze), followed by the Don Rowing Club with 17 (3 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze), the host South Niagara Rowing Club with 16 (8 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze), the Argonaut Rowing Club with 15 (6 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze) and rounding out the top-5 was the St. Catharines Rowing Club with 14 (3 gold, 7 silver, 4 bronze). Other Ontario clubs winning medals were the Leander Boat Club (11), Hanlan Boat Club (6), Niagara Falls Rowing Club (5), Branksome Hall (3), Ridley Graduate Boat Club (2), Georgian Bay Rowing Club (1), London Western Rowing Club (1), Tillsonburg Rowing Club (1), Toronto Sculling Club (1) and Upper Canada College (1).
The 48th annual Head of the Rideau was hosted by the Ottawa Rowing Club and featured both 3km and 5km races across a full range of race categories. Almost 250 boats took part in the event, with the majority of the clubs coming from Eastern Ontario as well as Quebec.
For full results from the World Rowing Championships, visit World Rowing.
For more information on the Western Invitational Regatta, visit, RegattaCentral.
For full results from the Head of the Welland, visit RegattaCentral.
For full results from the Head of the Rideau, visit RegattaCentral.
For the full regatta schedule in Ontario, visit the Row Ontario website.
