UBC alum Hillary Janssens wins bronze in Tokyo

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Hillary Janssens of Surrey and Caileigh Filmer of Victoria won the bronze medal in the women’s rowing pair event in Tokyo on Thursday.

Janssens is a University of British Columbia alum, and rowing coach Craig Pond isn’t surprised by her success.

“[The] program’s been quite strong. We’ve been national champions two years running now, and I think this just sort of strengthens our focus and our goals here moving forward.”

Pond says the more attention the university’s program gets, the better.

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• Filmer, Janssens capture bronze in women’s rowing pair at Tokyo Olympics

“We’ve competed as a varsity team in the States and overseas and had good results, and that’s really drummed up a lot of interest from athletes in high schools, and it really bolstered our ability to recruit.”

Janssens is just one of a number of strong women competitors representing Canada overseas, Pond says.

“I’m not surprised. I think the women in our country have shown a lot of success over the last couple of years. I’m not shocked, and I’m really happy for them.”