'We're thrilled': Vancouver Island rowers bring home bronze at Tokyo Olympics
A pair of Vancouver Island rowers are coming home with bronze medals for their efforts at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens, of Victoria, took home hard-fought bronze medals in the women’s 2,000-metre pairs event.
It's just the third time that Canada has won a medal in the event, and was the first time in nearly 30 years, according to Olympics Canada.
The two previous times Canada won a medal in the event was when Marnie McBean and partner Kathleen Heddle won a gold in Barcelona in 1992, and when partners Tricia Smith and Betty Craig took home a silver in Los Angeles in 1984.
"We've had a pretty awesome day and we're just feeling so lucky to be here, and yeah, enjoying every minute," Janssens told CTV News after the race on Wednesday.
The pair say they're happy with their performance, with the partners putting in as much energy as they could throughout the race.
"It was fast, but when it's fast it's a little bit bumpy in the rowing boat because they're pretty tippy and very sensitive to what your bodies are doing," said Janssens.
"And in a tailwind it's even more precarious and you got to be really careful, but it's the Olympic finals so we didn't really want to be careful, we wanted to go hard," she said. "And we did that, and yeah, we got to the podium, so we're thrilled."
Filmer says the pair has been racing together since 2015, and the intense training and events they've competed in together has led to a close bond.
"It's hard when you're with each other all the time to hide anything that you're feeling, so it's really – you just have to be honest when you're having a good day or when you're having a bad day because there's no hiding it," said Janssens.
"We see each other at our worst and at our best and today we were able to give our best together and that's what we've been training so hard for, for so long," she said. "So we're happy that we did well today."
Filmer, 24, started rowing at the age of 13 and was born and raised in Victoria. She would go on to attend the University of California for several years before transferring to the University of Victoria.
Janssens, 27, was raised in Cloverdale, B.C. and now lives in Victoria. She's competed in two World Rowing Championships and graduated from the University of British Columbia.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.