'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
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.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
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.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
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.
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.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.