'It's an honour': Northern rower revels in Olympic experience

TEMISKAMING SHORES - After just three years on the water, a Northern hockey star turned rower played a pivotal role in securing an Olympic medal for Canada.

Temiskaming Shores' Kristen Siermachesky was a spare with the women’s eights rowing team that won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

After several years of playing professional hockey, Siermachesky started her rowing career in 2021 and joined the national team in 2023. 

In May, Siermachesky was a spare for Rowing Canada at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II. She got to sub in and helped the team secure a gold medal.

“It's kind of the moment where we were like, OK, we can actually go get a medal at the Olympics. And unfortunately, I wasn't in the boat for the Olympics, but I still got that entire experience with my teammates,” she said. 

“I personally don't get a medal, which is kind of tough, but my teammates wouldn't let me walk around without one of theirs around my neck. They were constantly like, this is yours just as much as it's ours. So, it was pretty special.” 

When her team won, Siermachesky said she teared up.

“Which is very rare for me. Honestly, it was just this feeling of we finally did it after working literally six days a week, six hours a day, for this one goal. Us athletes are so Type A mindset, that it just felt like a huge check for the box, you know, for the biggest box possible,” she said. 

"We were just really excited at that point to be able to celebrate all the hard work that we've done leading up to that point.”

The team’s first couple of weeks in Paris felt fairly normal, Siermachesky said.

“Once the girls won the medal, we were shipped off to downtown Paris, and from there, that's when I feel like the Olympic wow factor started,” she said. 

“We were escorted by police everywhere and people were constantly wanting autographs. From there, it just felt like, whoa, this is really happening. And then we got to visit the Olympic Village, where you're surrounded by other Olympic athletes, like 10,000 athletes, who are just the best at what they do.” 

At the closing ceremony, Siermachesky spent time with swimmer and flag-bearer Summer McIntosh – who won four medals, including three gold – and Andre De Grasse, who anchored the gold-medal winning men’s 4x100 relay.

“I got to spend time with all of these athletes that you kind of look up to. But, it's funny because you're not the athlete that wants to go up and take pictures with them because they’re just trying to have their Olympic experience as well,” she said. 

The support from Canada has been amazing, Siermachesky said.

“It's an honour to represent our country and then it's an honour to have the response that we've got. Even arriving at Pearson Airport, there were so many people there to greet us. It just felt like they really, truly, are super proud of us,” she said. 

“And then, of course, coming back to Temiskaming Shores, it's been amazing and a whirlwind. I'm only here for five days, so it's very short, but everyone just seems so proud.” 

Now that the Olympics are over, Siermachesky plans to move back to the University of North Carolina where she’s in the final year of earning her master’s degree in sports administration. 

“I'm going to finish that up and will be a rowing coach there. That's where I learned to row, so it's like giving back in a way. But I also plan to stay fit, not train as hard as I have, but still stay fit so that I can be ready to go back to the training centre eventually and prepare for LA 2028,” she said.

Siermachesky hopes her successes inspire youth across Northern Ontario to go out and achieve whatever they aspire to do in life. 

“One of my main goals is just to show all these younger kids that whatever they put their minds to, whether it's a crazy goal of a sport you've never heard of before, you can do it, you just have to fully commit to it,” she said. 

“And also to be a well-rounded human at the same time, which is something my parents have instilled in me.”