New Liskeard hockey-player-turned rower heads to Olympics in Paris

Kristen Siermachesky says she only started rowing to prove her coach wrong.

After playing hockey at Syracuse University for four years and winning a conference championship, she wasn't sure what her next steps would be after graduation, until her coach brought up rowing.

"My old hockey coach at Syracuse made a joke and was like, 'why don't you try rowing or something?'" recounts Siermachesky.

She got in touch with the coach at the University of North Carolina where she was doing a masters program in sports administration and within months, she was breaking school records.

Siermachesky says Rowing Canada then called and asked her to move out to Duncan, B.C., to train at the national team training centre.

"Two years later, I'm now sitting in the hotel, about to head to the Olympics," she told CBC Radio's Morning North this week.

Siermachesky is an alternate in women's eight rowing at the Paris games. Her role is to fill in for any team members who get sick or injured during competition. She says her job is to make sure that nothing changes for the rest of her team.

During the World Cup held in Lucerne, Switzerland, in May, one of her teammates got sick the night before the women's eight final. Bright and early next morning, she was heading to the racecourse.

"I get a text from my coach at 9 a.m. and he's like, 'you're in'," Siermachesky says. "[There was] not even a second of doubt in my head."

A sports family

Siermachesky is not the only one in her family with a talent for athletics.

Her parents competed in track and field. Her dad was a high jumper who she says just missed out on the Olympics. Her mom was a hurdler and speed walker.

Growing up in New Liskeard, she played several sports, including basketball and volleyball. But hockey was her go-to sport and when she had to make a choice, she moved to North Bay to play women's hockey, before moving again, to Stoney Creek to play for the Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres.

"I was part of such an athletic family. I mean, my cousin's now in the NHL," she says. "My parents were very on me about being a well-rounded athlete."

Siermachesky says everyone in her family is already so excited ahead of the games and have been beyond supportive. She says she's planning on coming back for the next Olympics unless "something crazy happens in my life."

"Mom and Dad will be at the Olympics for sure. My sister was thinking about coming. I sense there could be a surprise there. But no matter what, I know my parents are there and I feel like I have a community behind me supporting me."

The Paris Olympics will run from July 26 to Aug. 11. The women's eight event starts July 29.