The Island-based Canadian rowing team is careful not to let the bucolic English summer in Henley-on-Thames, with some of the Royal Regatta spectators in straw-boater hats and partaking of strawberry and cream desserts, lull them into complacency.
They are at the famed regatta, founded in 1839, for a reason. That is to prepare for the world championships Sept. 3-10 in Belgrade, Serbia, which is the main qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The top five to 11 finishing boats in each event in Belgrade will advance to Paris, which will fill out most of the field for the Games.
“The ultimate goal of the season is to qualify the boat for the Olympics at the world champs, so, for now, we need to use these races to steadily improve and build into September, to be ready to do that,” Shannon Kennedy, of the Canadian women’s quad, said in a statement.
But the aura of Henley isn’t lost on her, either.
“Henley Royal has always been a bucket-list regatta for me. We were supposed to do it the summer of 2020, but then COVID hit, so it’s quite exciting to have the opportunity this year. I’m looking forward to seeing all the British fashion. Racing overseas is my favourite time of the year. I love competing.
“Winter is a long grind [on Quamichan Lake in North Cowichan], so I am very grateful to be back in the sun and getting three opportunities [Henley and two World Cup regattas ahead of the worlds] to race and see where we are at compared to other countries.”
Terek Been, of the Canadian men’s quad, had a similar feeling heading into Henley. “Get a good assessment of where we stand and how each of us in the boat work together, so when we come back for world champs in September, we’ll be ready to qualify the quad for the Olympics,” Been said in a statement.
The Royal Henley Regatta began Thursday and concludes with finals today.
The Canadian overseas season began last month at World Cup II in Varese, Italy, and will continue, following Henley, at World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, next weekend before the 31 rowers return to North Cowichan to prepare for their final push to the worlds in Belgrade.
The Canadian national team was based on Elk Lake for more than four decades, enjoying considerable Olympic success, before moving up-Island to Quamichan Lake following the last Olympics in Tokyo.
