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| Born | June 22, 1971 Walkerton, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Iain Brambell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Laryssa Biesenthal (born June 22, 1971) [1] is a Canadian former representative rower. [2] She is a dual Olympic medallist and represented Canada in sweep-oared and sculling boats at four World Rowing Championships, medalling on each occasion. She is married to Olympic rower Iain Brambell. [3]
Biesenthal first started rowing as a student at the University of British Columbia in 1990.
She made her national representative debut for Canada at the 1995 World Rowing Championships in Tampere, Finland, where she won a silver medal in the quadruple sculls event with Kathleen Heddle, Marnie McBean and Diane O’Grady. [4] This same quad won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. [4] Biensenthal went on to win a silver medal at the 1997 World Rowing Championships, silver and bronze medals at the 1998 World Rowing Championships, and another bronze at the 1999 World Championships. [5]
Biensenthal won two more medals before retiring, gold at the 1999 Pan American Games, and a final bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. [6] [5]
After her retirement from competitive rowing, she worked as a coach for the Canadian national team prior to the 2004 Summer Games. [5] She has been Head Coach at the Brentwood College School on Vancouver Island and in 2022 took a senior coaching role at the Sydney University Boat Club. [7]
Biesenthal has worked as a World Rowing Development Coach in Asia and Oceania was inducted into the University of British Columbia Hall of Fame in 2014. [5]
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