Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski didn’t know what to do Sunday after the women’s eight-point final at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

While Canada’s fifth place (5.87 seconds) was certainly below the Quebecer’s expectations, this ranking allowed the country to meet the qualification criteria for the Paris Olympic Games in July 2024.

“I have a lot of emotions right now! On the one hand, I am relieved that we were able to qualify the boat for the Olympic Games. It’s really something big for our team and I’m really proud of it. On the other side, I’m disappointed with fifth place, we always want to win our races, we never want to finish fifth,” said Gruchalla-Wesierski.

The Romanians successfully defended their world title on Sunday by winning top honors in the eight. The Americans were second (2.45 seconds) and the Australians were third (2.89 seconds).

To get to the grand final, the Canadians had to participate in the repechage after finishing third in their qualifying heat. Although one more race can represent an additional obstacle towards victory, Gruchalla-Wesierski believes this situation can prove positive for some teams.

“Sometimes going through the draft is a good thing. It’s an extra race to prepare for the final. It can be stressful at times, but for a country like Canada that doesn’t participate in a lot of races, it can have a positive impact,” she explained.

Canada finished third in this repechage to secure their place in the final. Cassidy Deane, Jessica Sevick, Kirsten Edwards, Alexis Cronk, Morgan Rosts, Sydney Payne and Avalon Wasteneys were Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski’s teammates at the worlds.

Before returning home, the Canadian team will make a stop in Paris to visit the Olympic competition sites to be ready for this big meeting in a little less than a year.

The Quebecer and her teammates will then participate in the Canadian Championships at the end of the month in Duncan, British Columbia. This will be the first opportunity for the eight to make the first adjustments in preparation for the Olympic Games.

“We did our best at the World Championships, but we’re not where we want to be. There is a lot of work to do for next year. We want to build on the positive to be even stronger,” concluded the Quebecer.

For her part, Marilou Duvernay-Tardif took third place in the C final in the double sculls with her British-Colombian teammate Katie Clark. The race was won by Britons Saskia Budgett and Kyra Edwards.