A member of the Carleton Ravens rowing team will be testing his oars in international waters, as Matthew Fournier was selected to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Rowing Championships regatta held in Motherwell, Scotland from Aug. 9-10.
Fournier said the national team encouraged him to attend spring tryouts after he had a successful fall season at Carleton, with a gold medal in single sculls at the Canadian University Rowing Championships being a highlight.
At the tryouts, Fournier placed third in the under-23 category and seventh overall, and these results allowed him to move on to another selection camp.
Fournier said he found out in June after the selection camps that he was chosen to be on the Commonwealth team.
Initially, Fournier said the news of making the Commonwealth squad was a “silver lining.”
“I was hoping to make the World [Championships] team originally,” he lamented.
But it was Fournier’s family that helped him realize what he had just accomplished. Fournier said his mother told him to take advantage of the opportunity by using it as a learning experience for next year.
“It just kind of made me realize that I shouldn’t be upset about my results and if anything I should be happy,” Fournier said of his mother’s advice.
Fournier is also coached at Carleton by his father, Ed, who said he was proud of how well his son fared at the selection camp tryouts.
This year, the intensity of training means Matthew is not able to have a summer job, but Ed said his family has committed to supporting his son financially.
“They’ll do anything to try and help me push forward,” the younger Fournier said.
In preparation for the Commonwealth regatta, Fournier said he’s increased his workouts from twice a day to three or four times per day.
“I think I’ve done everything I could [to prepare],” he said.
His father agreed.
“From what I see he’s moving very fast. He’s more than capable of doing well,” the elder Fournier said.
Ed said he will be flying to Scotland along with Matthew’s mother to support their son on the world stage. The Ravens rower will be participating in the single and double sculls. For the double sculls, he will be paired with Lee Hall from the University of Victoria.
This will be Fournier’s first time representing Canada, a trend that he said he wants to continue in the future, with a spot in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto on his radar.
And with such an admittedly rigorous training schedule, Fournier said his goal for the Commonwealth Rowing Championships is very clear.
“Ideally I would like to win,” he said. “It’s a lot of effort to go overseas to just try to have a good race.”
