Caileigh Filmer, one of Canada’s most decorated sweep rowers of her generation, has announced she is stepping away from high-performance rowing after more than a decade with the Canadian national rowing team.

A three-time Olympian, Filmer won bronze in the women’s pair with Hillary Janssens at Tokyo 2020 and silver in the women’s eight at Paris 2024. She was also world champion in the pair in 2018 and a world bronze medallist in 2019.

Filmer had set her sights on a fourth Olympic Games at LA 2028, but a back injury last November changed her path. Despite a determined effort to return to full fitness, she couldn’t get back on the water pain-free and has chosen to put her health and long-term wellbeing first.

“From a kid in Victoria trying to figure out an erg, to standing on Olympic podiums in both Tokyo and Paris, it has been an extraordinary journey – one I could only have dreamed of,” said Filmer. “Letting go of a goal you’ve poured your soul into is one of the hardest things an athlete can face. Stepping away is tough, but it is the right decision to prioritize my health and long-term wellbeing. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to walk away, both mentally and physically healthy, still loving this sport, and looking back on this chapter in such a good light.”

From the Pool to the Podium

Born and raised in Victoria, Filmer was a competitive swimmer for seven years and swam with Canada’s youth national team at age 12. She turned to rowing at 13 through a Learn to Row summer camp with Victoria City Rowing Club and Mount Douglas Secondary School, where her first coach was Sarah Waterfield. Rowing ran in the family – her mother, Helena, rowed for the national team and at the University of Victoria.

Filmer made her international debut in 2013 at the World Rowing Junior Championships. A year later she won junior world silver in the pair with Larissa Werbicki, and just 10 days after that, the duo took bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. She went on to row at the University of California, Berkeley, helping the Golden Bears win the 2015 Pac-12 title and finish second at the NCAA Championships, and won U23 world medals in the four (silver, 2015) and the eight (gold, 2017).

A Partnership for the Record Books

At the age of 19, Filmer made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016 in the women’s eight, which finished fifth. Two years later, in her first senior World Rowing Championships, she and Hillary Janssens won gold in the pair in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, after earlier taking World Cup gold in Belgrade and silver in Lucerne. The pair added world bronze in 2019, qualifying the boat for Tokyo.

Their bronze at Tokyo 2020 was Canada’s first Olympic medal in the women’s pair since Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle won gold at Barcelona 1992. The pair led early and missed silver by just 0.25 seconds.

The road to that podium was not a straight line. In 2019, Filmer stepped away from the sport for three months to focus on her mental health, and she has since spoken openly about her experience in the hope of helping others. In her announcement, she said she will carry with her, as much as her medals, the experience of being open about the mental health side of sport and hearing others share their stories in return.

A Return, and a Second Olympic Medal

After Tokyo, Filmer stepped away from rowing to pursue track and road cycling, racing internationally and at the Canadian championships. She returned to the national team in 2023, and in 2024 helped the women’s eight win World Cup II before claiming Olympic silver behind Romania at Paris 2024 – her second Olympic medal in a second boat class.

She continued to compete through 2025, racing in both the eight and the four at the World Rowing Championships, before the back injury that ultimately ended her campaign toward LA 2028.

“On behalf of Rowing Canada Aviron, I want to thank Caileigh for more than a decade of representing Canada. Her medals are part of our history, but so is the way she spoke openly about mental health and opened the door for others to do the same. We fully support her decision to put her health first, and we wish her every success in her next chapter,” said Jennifer Fitzpatrick, CEO of Rowing Canada Aviron.

Filmer thanked her longtime pair partner Hillary Janssens, her teammates, Rowing Canada staff, doctors, physios, sponsors, and her family and friends for their support throughout her career.

Caileigh Filmer — Career Highlights

• Olympic Games: 2024 Paris – SILVER (W8+); 2020 Tokyo – BRONZE (W2-); 2016 Rio – 5th (W8+)
• World Rowing Championships: 2018 – GOLD (W2-); 2019 – BRONZE (W2-), 4th (W8+); 2023 – 18th (W2-); 2025 – 7th (W8+), 8th (W4-)
• World Rowing Cup: 2024 WC II – GOLD (W8+); 2018 WC I – GOLD (W2-); 2018 WC III – SILVER (W2-)
• World Rowing U23 Championships: 2017 – GOLD (W8+); 2015 – SILVER (W4-)
• Youth Olympic Games: 2014 Nanjing – BRONZE (W2-)
• World Rowing Junior Championships: 2014 – SILVER (W2-); 2013 – 8th (W4-)