Canadian Lightweight Women’s Double 4th at World Rowing Championships
A career best result for the duo.
Canadian lightweight rowers Jill Moffatt (University of Western Ontario) and Jenny Casson (Kingston Rowing Club) lock in a personal best finish at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia today. The first time competing in an A Final at World Championships, the duo placed 4th overall in the women’s lightweight double event with a time of 7:25.77.
“This week has been very special for us,” said Casson. “At the last Olympic qualification regatta in 2019 for Tokyo, it was really tough to miss out on the A Final and finish 8th so this year’s focus has been all about not putting ourselves in a position where we are racing for one Olympic spot in the B Final.”
Moffatt and Casson secured Canada’s first quota spots for Paris 2024 on Thursday, winning their semi-final race ahead of New Zealand and the United States with a time of 7:23.12.
“We were so elated that we had qualified spots for our country,” said Moffatt. “Those semi-finals were the most important to us, qualifying a spot for our country felt like we had won the regatta. Switching over to race day was hard but we figured, since we already achieved our goal, why not go for more but it was no longer do or die from an Olympic qualification perspective.”
At the 2022 World Rowing Championships, Moffatt and Casson finished 7th overall and 12th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“Making it to the A Final and finishing 4th here in Belgrade meant that it was not luck, it was hard work believing in ourselves, believing in each other and trusting that we did everything we could to get that finish,” added Casson. “I think we can be really proud of how this ended.”
Canadian crews competing in B final action today included the Women’s Four and the Women’s Quad, both finishing the B Final in 4th place. Rebecca Zimmerman (University of Victoria Rowing Club), Kristen Siermachesky (Brockville Rowing Club) Kristina Walker (Kingston Rowing Club/UBC), and bow seat, Piper Battersby – (Victoria City Rowing Club/UVic) wrap up their event in 10th overall.
Women’s Quad, Shannon Kennedy (London Western Rowing Club), Grace VandenBroek (Peterborough Rowing Club/Trent U), Carling Zeeman (Sudbury Rowing Club) and Elisa Bolinger (University of Western Ontario) also wrapped up their first World Championships as a crew in 10th place.
Tomorrow will mark the final day of World Championship competition with the Women’s Eight going for gold and the Men’s Eight racing to win the B Final.
FULL RESULTS FOR CANADIAN TEAM
For more information:
Colleen Coderre
RCA Communications Lead
coderre@rowingcanada.org
Ren Thompson
RCA Communications Coordinator
rthompson@rowingcanada.org