Connor Dodds and Charles-Etienne Tabet are coming back to Canada with some well-earned hardware.
The duo earned a bronze medal in the men's lightweight double at the 2024 International University Sports Federation (FISU) World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
"It was an exciting experience representing Canada on the international stage for the first time," Tabet said. "The bronze medal is proof of all the hard work we put in the past few years."
Beginning on Thursday, July 4, the competition commenced with a round of heats and concluded with the final on Saturday, July 7.
In the final race, Dodds and Tabet crossed the finish line in a time of six minutes, 28 seconds and 56 milliseconds behind Nicolò Demiliani and Matteo Tonelli of Italy (6:24.22) and Mathias Mair and Elias Friderich Hautsch of Austria (6:27.87).
"The weather became a big factor in the final and I think we handled it well," Dodds said. "Winning a bronze medal shows that we can be competitive with the top rowers in the world and we are very proud of that."
Brock Badgers graduate Sam Stewart (BA '23) took home a silver medal in the men's four (4-) with crew mates Julian Black, Axel Ewashko and Aidan Della of the University of British Columbia.
"Representing Brock as an alumnus is something I'm very proud of," Stewart said. "Winning silver at FISU means the culmination of months of work which was put into sharpening my boat and gelling with three other athletes from a different university."
Stewart last rowed for the Badgers in 2022 where he won a national bronze medal and two provincial silvers.
Also competing at the international event were Isabella Durcak, Zoe Durcak and Michael Ciepiela.
The Durcaks placed fifth in the lightweight women's double in a time of 7:23.01, with Poland (7:04.00), Italy (7:10.65) and Hungary (7:14.97) finishing on the podium.
Ciepiela, a former Brock rower who last competed in 2022, captured first in the men's single C final with a time of 7:13.53.
Head coach Katie Bruggeling and associate coach Mary Rao were also in the Netherlands helping coach Team Canada throughout the week.
You can check out the full results from the event on their website.
