With Olympic gold in rearview, Canada's women's eight rowing crew resets for worlds

Just over a year after its surprise gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Canada's women's eight rowing team is set to begin the process anew.

Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski is one of four returning gold medallists competing at the world championships, but she said the Olympics are firmly in the rearview mirror.

"Being an Olympian, an Olympic champion, is something that nobody can take away from us in that boat and that result on that day," Gruchalla-Wesierski said.

"But now we're just looking towards something new and it's a pretty cool thing that we accomplished, but we're just trying to create more of a legacy moving forward for Canadian rowing."

The 2022 rowing world championships continue Saturday in the Czech Republic. Canada's women's eights boat has booked its spot in the medal race, which begins Sunday at 8:59 a.m. ET. The Canadian men race in their final earlier that day at 8:10 a.m. ET.

Gruchalla-Wesierski, the 31-year-old from Calgary, added that she felt neither relief nor added stress entering the competition as reigning Olympic champions.

"Not really pressure from that, just like the normal pressure that we put on ourselves around racing. That never changes no matter the event."

But while the pressure may be firmly intact, the stakes are relatively low. These world championships, while a major event unto themselves, don't hold any bearing on Olympic qualification. That happens at next year's worlds.

Turnover from Tokyo

The goal in the Czech Republic, beyond reaching the podium, is to establish chemistry with the new members of the team. They recently earned silver at a World Cup event in Switzerland.

"We're just trying to be the best as a unit and push in the right direction as one boat. I mean there's nine moving parts, but it's one result and it's whose bow ball crosses the line first," Gruchalla-Wesierski said.

Coxswain Kristen Kit is among the Tokyo returnees, in addition to Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys and Sydney Payne.

Newcomers include former under-23 world champion Morgan Rosts, Olympic double sculls partners Gabrielle Smith and Jessica Sevick and the University of Victoria's Alexis Cronk and Kirsten Edwards.

"There's lots going on and that's kind of a sweet balance of like fresh eagerness and experience in the boat right now," Gruchalla-Wesierski said.

Now an Olympic champion, Gruchalla-Wesierski nearly missed the Games altogether after a bike crash a month before the opening ceremony left her with a broken collarbone, a bruised hip and 56 stitches.

But the former competitive alpine skier, who was forced out of that sport after a broken leg, persevered to keep her spot on the eights boat, eventually helping Canada to its first women's rowing gold medal since 1996.

"There's always something that happens before an event and there's always things that go wrong, not just for me, but that's just the nature of sport," Gruchalla-Wesierski said. "So when you learn, you can really deal with it and be just really stoic in the face of a storm."

Having taken up at rowing at 23, Gruchalla-Wesierski has only ever competed at one prior world championships, in 2019 with Olympic qualification on the line.

"It's a grind, but the racing is our reward so I can't wait to get to the start line," she said.

Familiar faces, names

Rowing Canada sent nine crews and 35 total athletes to the Czech Republic event.

The men's eight is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Switzerland World Cup in which some members were dealing with COVID-19.

"The men's eight crew have been making huge strides in strength and cohesion and we are looking forward to throwing down on the world stage," said Tokyo 2020 Olympian Luke Gadsdon.

A familiar name competed in the women's double, where Marilou Duvernay-Tardif teams with Elisa Bolinger.

Duvernay-Tardif is the sister of NFL player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who shared the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete in 2020.

Bolinger joined the senior team after taking silver at the U23 world championships.

"It has been a great transition to the senior level with ample support from teammates and coaches. I'm really excited to be working with Marilou," she said.

In lightweight women's doubles, Jenny Casson returned to competition following double hip surgery and rejoined forces with Jill Moffatt. The duo finished 12th in Tokyo.

"The motto of 'baby steps' got me from a 10-minute walk in April to racing in the double today. All I could do was put my head down and listen to the experts and appreciate every step forward," Casson said. "This event really means the world to me."

Additionally, Canada sent teams in the women's four (Rebecca Zimmerman, Claire Brillon, Cassidy Deane, Karen Lefsrud), the women's pair (Rianne Boekhorst, Kristina Walker), lightweight women's single (Karissa Riley), women's single (Shannon Kennedy), men's single (Trevor Jones) and men's double (Dan de Groot, Gavin Stone).