Laryssa Biesenthal

Last updated

Laryssa Biesenthal
Personal information
Born22 June 1971 (1971-06-22) (age 51)
Walkerton, Ontario, Canada
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1996 Atlanta Quad sculls
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Sydney Eight
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1995 Tampere Quad sculls
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1997 Aiguebelette Eight
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Cologne Eight
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1999 St. Catharines Eight
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1999 Winnipeg Double sculls

Laryssa Biesenthal, born 22 June 1971, in Walkerton, Ontario [1] is a Canadian former representative rower 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.

Contents

Rowing career

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. [3] This same quad won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. [3] 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. [4]

Biensenthal won two more medals before retiring, gold at the 1999 Pan American Games, and a final bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. [5] [4]

Coaching career

After her retirement from competitive rowing, she worked as a coach for the Canadian national team prior to the 2004 Summer Games. [6] She has been Head Coach at the Brentwood School in Vancouver 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. [4]

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References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Laryssa Biesenthal". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. Laryssa Biesenthal at World Rowing
  3. 1 2 International Olympic Committee (18 August 2020). "Laryssa BIESENTHAL | Olympics.com". Olympics.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Laryssa Biesenthal (2014) - UBC Sports Hall of Fame". University of British Columbia Athletics. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  5. "Laryssa Biesenthal". Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  6. "Laryssa Biesenthal (2014) - UBC Sports Hall of Fame". University of British Columbia Athletics. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  7. SUBC announcement