Tokyo/Fraser Valley – (with files from Olympic.ca) – University of the Fraser Valley rowing alum Lisa Roman and her teammates with the Canadian women’s eight had the performance of their lives on Day 7 of the Tokyo Olympics, winning the gold medal.
The crew of Roman (Langley, B.C.), Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Christine Roper, Andrea Proske, Susanne Grainger, Madison Mailey, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and coxswain Kristen Kit raced out to an early lead and hung on down the stretch, clocking in at 5:59.13 to take the gold, 0.91 seconds ahead of New Zealand with China coming in third.
Roman became the Cascades’ first-ever Olympian in 2016, helping the women’s eight to a fifth-place result at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. After a one-year postponement on the way to her second Summer Games, she now the Cascades’ first-ever Olympic medalist . . . and it’s gold.
“There’s a special group of girls here, and that was my motivation,” Roman told GoCascades.ca prior to departing for Tokyo. “I couldn’t imagine them standing on the podium and me not being there. I was like, ‘Nope, this has to happen. I can’t stop now.’ I know the team we have is strong enough to stand on the podium, and that is something I want to do and I want to be a part of.”
The Canadian women’s eight took the long road to the top of the podium. After finishing second in their opening heat at Tokyo’s Sea Forest Waterway, they had to go to the repechage to qualify for the final, and they did so in spectacular fashion, posting a new Canadian record time (5:53.73) on their way to a second-place finish to secure their finals berth.
In the final, Canada pulled away from the start and were in the lead through the first 250 metres. As they hit the 500m mark, Canada maintained that lead by about half a second over Australia.
Over the next 500m, the Canadians expanded their lead and hit the midway mark with a 1.63 second gap on the Aussies. They continued to power through to the next interval, maintaining half a boat length lead as New Zealand moved up, 1.30 seconds behind Canada.
In the home stretch of the 2000m race, the Canadian crew held off the challengers and celebrated at the finish.
Celebrations were also ongoing, among other places, in Deep Bay, B.C., where longtime Cascades head coach Liz Chisholm now lives in retirement.
“It’s amazing, it’s amazing,” she enthused. “I’ll tell you, it just shows you what drive and determination and openness can do. Lisa went to a level in her training beyond what she thought she had, and she was so ready for this Olympics.”
Chisholm noted that Roman returned to the UFV rowing club frequently over the years to serve as a guest coach, and as such, an entire generation of alumni know her and are celebrating her success in Tokyo.
“It’s hard to describe,” Chisholm said, reflecting on the fact she helped launch the career of an Olympic gold medalist. “You don’t know, walking into your team sometimes and meeting these new athletes, what they’re capable of. Lisa was so excited to be part of it, and year after year, getting better and better… But to go this far? You don’t see it coming sometimes, except through knowing her over the years. It really is very exciting. Because she kept coming back, so many of our athletes knew her, and they’re very excited.
“It fills everybody, right?
