Before flying to Scotland for the 2014 Commonwealth Rowing Championships, Matthew Fournier said his goal was to come home with the gold.
And the renowned Ravens rower did exactly that, as he brought home a gold medal along with a silver from the competition, which lasted from Aug. 9-10.
“When you race in Canada, you kind of know everyone. But on this stage I had no idea how fast everybody was, so it was really a surprise,” Fournier said.
His gold medal came in the double sculls discipline, while his silver came in single sculls.
He said his great starts in both the single and double sculls finals helped him achieve success—something he said that he had not achieved all season, as he led for the majority of the singles race and held a steady lead throughout the doubles final.
In single sculls, Fournier said he was in the lead for the majority of the race, but in the last 500 metres, an Australian competitor made a push into first place that Fournier could not come back from.
However, Fournier maintained the second spot with just a bit of open water between him and third place.
“I couldn’t breath properly. For the first time in my life I had like almost a panic attack that I wouldn’t be able to finish the race,” he said. “I wish I was a bit closer to first place but at the same time I was just ecstatic to be on the podium.”
With slightly less than 24 hours between the single sculls and double sculls finals, Fournier had to start preparing for the next race shortly after winning silver.
Fournier said he and his Canadian doubles partner, Lee Hall, were able to put distance between them and the rest of the pack early, and held off the other teams to claim the gold medal.
This was Fournier’s first foray into international competition, and he admitted nerves were something he needed to overcome during the event.
“I think the main thing that helped me was that I just tried to keep calm,” he said. “As soon as I started thinking, ‘I’m representing Team Canada,’ I got really nervous, so I just tried to stop thinking about it as much as possible.”
Fournier is returning to Carleton and the school rowing team for his fifth and final year, and said his breakthrough results overseas have helped his confidence going forward.
“It made me feel like I was the best I could be going over, and that I deserved to be going,” he said.
–files from Sammy Hudes
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