Both of the rowers from the Cowichan Valley who competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo finished off the podium.
Duncan’s Kyle Fredrickson, a graduate of Shawnigan Lake School, finished eighth overall with the PR3 mixed coxed four crew, and Mill Bay’s Jessye Brockway placed 12th overall with her partner in the PR2 mixed double. Both events wrapped up with their finals on Sunday, Aug. 29.
Fredrickson and his teammates placed second in the B final, behind the Russian Paralympic Committee.
“Our warm up was pretty dialed this morning,” Andrew Todd, a member of the mixed coxed four crew who has also won two PR3 men’s world titles alongside Fredrickson, said on Rowing Canada’s website. “Ultimately it was all about committing to [cox Laura Court]’s calls and making sure that the last race of the regatta was the best one and have it unfold today the way we wanted it to end.”
Fredrickson, Todd and Court were joined in the boat by Bayleigh Hooper and Victoria Nolan. The crew finished fourth in their heat on Aug. 27, in which only the first-place boat advanced directly to the A final. They then placed fourth in their repechage race the next day, with the top two boats moving to the A final and the rest to the B final.
Brockway and her partner, Jeremy Hall of Edmonton, placed sixth in the B final of the PR2 mixed double.
“I’m proud of our journey here,” said Hall. “From the partner search, to dealing with COVID, and finally getting that last chance spot to be here.”
Brockway and Hall finished fifth in their heat on Aug. 27, then fifth again in their repechage race the next day to qualify for the B final.
This is the fourth time that rowing has been part of the Paralympic Games, having debuted in Beijing in 2008. Originally raced over 1000m, this is the first Paralympic Games that para rowing has been raced over 2000m.
READ MORE: Cowichan Valley rowers headed to Paralympics next month
Mill Bay’s Jessye Brockway (right) and Jeremy Hall compete in the PR2 mixed double at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. (Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
