Former Humboldt Bronco Jacob Wasserman pursuing dreams as Paralympic debut approaches
Wasserman has been nominated to represent Canada in Para rowing at Paris 2024.
Former Humboldt Broncos goaltender Jacob Wasserman was named to Canada’s Paralympic team on Thursday, and will compete in the sport of Para rowing this summer at Paris 2024.
Wasserman is one of 13 survivors of the tragic bus crash that killed 16 people from the Broncos junior hockey team on April 6, 2018. A transport truck drove through a stop sign and collided with the Broncos' team bus while they were on their way to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game. The crash paralysed Wasserman from the waist down.
The now-24-year-old tried multiple sports in the years that followed, including Para ice hockey and adaptive water skiing, before finding Para rowing in October 2022. He was introduced to the sport when a chance encounter with a friend at a grocery store led to him visiting the Saskatoon Rowing Club.
“The rowing club in Saskatoon had a ‘have-a-go’ day to come out and give it a try, so I went out on the river and I kind of just fell in love with it right away,” Wasserman said during a virtual media conference call on Thursday. “I liked the people that were there and the coach that I was working with. I kind of just kept going, and I fell into it, and it turned out that it came pretty naturally to me too.
“I've always been a competitor, and it's what I've enjoyed a lot about this sport, is I've been able to compete against other people too.”
He hasn’t looked back since.
At the 2023 Canadian national championships, Wasserman earned gold in the men’s PR1 single sculls, and this past March he won a silver medal at the Continental Qualification Regatta in Rio de Janeiro.
Only the top finisher earned a quota spot for their country for this summer’s Paralympic Games, but Canada received a spot through quota reallocation.
“I’m extremely proud to wear the maple leaf and represent Canada,” Wasserman said. “[For] as long as I can remember it’s been something that I've wanted to do, represent our country on on the biggest stage, so Paris is an opportunity to do that.
“I'm really looking forward to it, to get out there and compete and learn from all the other athletes and coaches that are out there as well.”
Six years on from the tragic crash in Saskatchewan, Wasserman is able to reflect on life lessons learned in such difficult circumstances.
He is still in touch with his former hockey teammates, and says that they have a group chat where they stay up-to-date on each others’ lives, and congratulate each other on accomplishments. He shared that they have been his biggest supporters outside of his family, and they they still meet up regularly.
Balanced with his training, he is also a student at the University of Saskatchewan College of Education. Wasserman recently completed his internship teaching a grade seven and eight split class at his former school in Humboldt, and wants to teach middle-year students in the future.
"If the crash taught me anything is that, just to go with it, right? Life will sometimes throw you a curveball and what I've really learned is to just keep moving forward and keep pursuing the dreams that I had," Wasserman said.
"I wanted to be a professional athlete when I was two years old and the crash happened. Hockey wasn't the way I was going to go with it anymore. I just kept moving forward and training hard and eventually I fell into the sport that was meant for me. Here I am now able to represent Canada on the biggest stage. The dream that I had from a very young age is still able to come true."
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With the Paris 2024 Paralympics just weeks away, Wasserman is looking forward to competing on the biggest stage. His parents, brother, wife, and in-laws will be making the trip to France to cheer him on, which he calls his “cheering section”.
Wasserman also believes that his rowing career is four years ahead of schedule.
"I hope Paris is a big learning experience for sure,” he said. “I'm very young in this sport. I’ve only been at it for a couple of years, I know there's people who've been doing it for a very, very long time that are gonna have lots of knowledge and even just watching them, how they train, how they compete, will teach me a lot for sure going forward.
“Paris was never in the plan for us. We had always thought about LA for 2028 and I kind of got lucky and we ended up in this position. It is going to be amazing and I hope to learn a lot to continue forward through my career in rowing to keep building and keep growing.”
Para rowing will take begin on August 30 with the heats, with the repechages to come on August 31 and the finals on September 1. Events will take place at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in Paris.
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