Canadian rowing has a rich tradition of podium performances at the Olympic Games. Our legacy continues with 2024 Olympic silver in the women’s coxed eight. We are immensely proud of our entire team who represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Our athletes have inspired current and future rowers to one day represent Canada and we are grateful they chose to embark on that journey. We thank them for their tenacity and dedication and extend our gratitude to all those around them who have provided support in their pursuit of excellence.

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) qualified two boats for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and we want to convey that we know this is not enough. We are a proud nation of rowers with an incredible legacy of success in our sport and we take that responsibility very seriously. We fell short of our own goals and objectives which will continue to prompt reflection about our approach moving forward.

While our performance in Paris is evidence that we are proficient at achieving certain desired results, it does not fully represent what we know to be true – we have many talented rowers in Canada whom we believe can win on the world stage yet are choosing to not pursue the journey to represent Canada.

Our goal is clear – to deliver a robust program that supports our athletes and coaches, fosters a strong sense of community, and achieves consistent success on the international stage. While we’ve made changes to enhance the National Training Centre (NTC) environment, we must continue to evolve to ensure our rowers are drawn to a world-class program and feel supported in a welcoming, thriving atmosphere throughout their journey.

Engagement and support for our athletes is critical, and we are dedicated to further advancing the women’s program while revitalizing the men’s program simultaneously to strengthen the foundation of Canadian rowing for years to come. In the coming months, we will finalize our assessment of High Performance and Pathway programming for able-bodied and para rowing to ensure that Canadian rowing remains a proud and successful sport on the world stage.

This summer has offered more to our community with the 2024 World Rowing Senior, U23, and U19 Championships (Mega Worlds) taking place last week, along with the upcoming Paralympic Games. These events provide valuable opportunities and experience, laying the foundation for a bright future of Canadian rowing.

These international events are followed by the National Rowing Championships (NRCs) in October in Welland, Ontario – another opportunity to further develop and showcase Canadian rowing talent. Plans are underway to connect with our performance community in your home environments throughout the fall and as many of us will be at NRCs, we encourage you to speak with us there. We also welcome you to reach out and arrange a visit to the NTC. We are committed to making the NTC more accessible to up-and-coming athletes.

As we look ahead to what it will take to continue the legacy of top performances for Canadian rowing at the 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, we reflect on what we were reminded of in Paris. The women’s coxed eight was steadfast in their belief of their potential to stand on the podium, and they achieved that result by working together with a shared goal. Working together with our athletes and our performance partners, including coaches and their clubs, institutions, and provincial programs, we too will achieve our vision of sustainable podium performances with a greater number of athletes representing Canada on the Olympic stage.

Jennifer Fitzpatrick
Interim RCA CEO, Director of Partnerships and Sport Development
jfitzpatrick@rowingcanada.org

Adam Parfitt
RCA High Performance Director
parfitt@rowingcanada.org