Gabrielle Smith

Biography

Gabrielle Smith first represented Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. As a member of the national development team, she competed twice at the U23 World Championships. But after the 2016 U23 Worlds, Smith was forced to take time away from rowing due to stress fractures in three ribs. She stopped training for over a year as she went through rehab to get her strength back.

Healthy again in 2018, Smith made her first appearance with the senior national team, partnering with Andrea Proske in double sculls. In their first competition at the final World Cup of the year in Lucerne, Switzerland they won a silver medal. They followed up with an A final appearance and sixth-place finish at Smith’s first senior world championships. 

In 2019, Smith and Proske won double sculls bronze at the World Cup in Lucerne and ended the season by qualifying the boat for Canada for Tokyo 2020 with their fourth-place finish at the world championships. It was the first time Canada had a women’s double sculls at the Olympic Games since Atlanta 1996. Smith competed alongside Jessica Sevick in her Olympic debut and the duo advanced to the double sculls A final where they finished sixth.

A Little More About Gabrielle

Getting into the Sport: Started rowing at age 18 with the Row to Podium program in Montreal… Liked rowing because ‘You get out exactly what you put in. It rewards hard work’… Outside Interests: Graduated from McGill University in 2017 with a degree in Cellular Biology and would like to pursue graduate studies… Enjoys puzzles, music, painting… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’”… Tosses a ‘lucky loonie’ into each new body of water she rows on…