Canadian rowing team named ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics
Canada is looking to repeat as women's eight champions.
Rowing Canada Aviron and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced the roster of Team Canada rowing athletes nominated to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Thursday.
Canada is the defending champion in the women’s eight event, and four gold medallists return to the team from the group that won in Tokyo — Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Kristen Kit, Sydney Payne and Avalon Wasteneys.
“Returning for my second Olympic Games makes me feel incredibly grateful for all the amazing support and hard work that has brought us to this point,” said Wasteneys in a press release. “Heading into Paris, I’m really looking forward to witnessing a full Olympic experience, especially after the more limited Tokyo Olympic Games experience during the global pandemic.
“What I am genuinely most excited about is getting out there and competing with my teammates. This crew continually excels under pressure, and I can’t wait to see how we rise to the challenge of performing at the highest possible level in Paris!”
Canada’s eight team also features Abby Dent, Caileigh Filmer, Maya Meschkuleit, Jessica Sevick, and Kristina Walker.
Filmer was a bronze medallist in Tokyo, in the women’s pairs with Hillary Janssens. She made her Olympic debut in the women’s eight at Rio 2016, but is now competing in eights again in Paris. She switched from rowing to competing in road and track cycling for a couple of years after Tokyo, but rejoined the Canadian rowing program last year.
Walker and Sevick will also make their second Olympic appearances. Walker rowed to a 10th-place finish in Tokyo in the women’s four event, while Sevick switched to the women’s eight after finishing sixth in the women’s double sculls three years ago.
“Being selected to go to my third Olympic Games is a dream come true that I would not have thought possible a year ago,” said Filmer in a press release. “I picked up an oar again last July when I came back to the sport, inspired to help Canada become back-to-back Olympic champions in the women’s eight. I am so proud of the entire team for our growth, integrity, and courage every day. I’m absolutely thrilled to race with these women and to have fun doing what we love together, representing Canada at the Olympics.”
The Canadian women’s eight team made a strong statement at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II in Switzerland, winning gold. They won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships and finished fifth a year later.
The 2024 World Rowing Championships will take place in August at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ontario.
For the second Olympics in a row, the Canadian women’s lightweight double sculls crew will be made up of Jenny Casson and Jill Moffatt. The pair finished 12th in Tokyo, and in the years since have challenged for international podiums.
They qualified for Paris 2024 with a fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, and recently finished the World Cup season with a fourth-place finish in Switzerland.
“It feels really special to be officially nominated for my second Olympic Games with Jenny,” said Moffatt in a press release. “Jenny and I are such different athletes than we were in Tokyo, so I’m looking forward to experiencing this regatta as the best versions of ourselves. Our coach, Jeremy Ivey, has been integral in getting us to where we are today, and I look forward to the three of us taking on the world in Paris.”
Kristen Siermachesky and Cassidy Deane have been named as alternate athletes for the Canadian rowing team in Paris.
With 43 medals since 1904, rowing is Canada’s third-most successful summer sport in terms of total medals, trailing only athletics (66) and swimming (54). Their 43 medals is also sixth-most among all nations in Olympic rowing history, and just one back of fifth-place Australia.
Rowing events at Paris 2024 will take place from July 27 to August 3 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.