Paris 2024 Para rowing, Para canoe Lookahead: Paddler Brianna Hennessy top medal hope for Canada

Para rower Jacob Wassermann will no doubt be one of the most followed Canadian athletes at the upcoming Paralympic Games August 28 to September 8 in Paris.

Wassermann has made an incredible recovery to compete for Canada in Para rowing, a sport he took up in 2021. He is also Canada’s only entry in the sport at the Games.

Going to Paris was unexpected for Wassermann, who competes in the men’s PR1 singles sculls. He went to a qualifying event earlier this year mainly to gain some valuable racing experience, but ended up helping secure Canada a quota spot for his event.

“The fact that I’ve been able to get this far and be able to go out there is a pretty big accomplishment in my book already,’’ Wassermann told a scrum of reporters earlier this week after his training session on Wascana Lake in Regina.

“It was a bit of a shock. We’re preparing five years earlier than what we were ready for.”

Wassermann races in the preliminaries August 30, the repechage is August 31 and the finals September 1.

Next goal for Brianna Hennessy is a Paralympic medal

Para canoer Brianna Hennessy of Ottawa wants to show her international success since the last Paralympic Games in Tokyo was no fluke. In her Games debut three years ago, Hennessy was fifth in the VL2 (outrigger) 200m and eighth in the KL1 (kayak) 200m.

Since then she has hung five world championship medals on her paddle including double medal performances in her two events at the 2022 and 2023 worlds and silver in the VL2 this past spring.

“I still consider myself to be the new kid on the block,” she told CTV News earlier this month. “Everyone else has at least a decade in or more.”

Hennessy’s biggest rivals are Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw of the powerful British team. They are respectively the defending KL2 and VL2 Paralympic champions and have maintained themselves at the top since Tokyo.

Canada’s two other paddlers bring experience and shouldn’t be discounted from the medal conversation.

In fact, Erica Scarff of Mississauga, Ont. won the silver medal at the 2023 worlds in the women’s VL3 200m, her first career major international podium. Scarff, who lost her leg to cancer in 2008, brings a wealth of experience.

The 28-year-old has competed at nine world championships and was a member of the 2016 Paralympic Games team. She suffered multiple injuries when she was hit by a car in 2018 which derailed her plans to compete at Tokyo 2021.

Her top rival is another British paddler Hope Gordon the VL3 champion in Tokyo.

Mathieu St-Pierre of Shawinigan, Que. is also headed to second Paralympic Games looking to improve upon his fifth-place finish in Tokyo in the men’s VL2.

“The level of competition will be high in Paris,’’ St-Pierre told Le Nouvelliste. “The two Brazilians are extremely strong (defending Games champion Fernando Rufino de Paulo and Igor Tofalini, 1-2 at the 2023 World Championships). I still think I’ll be able to catch them one day, but they’ve got a good tick on the rest.

‘’I’d really like to go for a medal.’’

Para canoe events are at the end of the Games September 6-8 with finals set for the last two days.

Both the Para canoe and Para rowing events are at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

For more information visit our Paris 2024 Hub.