Photo curtesy of Abby Dent.
Abby Dent says her Olympic appearance is made possible with the continued encouragement from Kenora’s community.
The St. Thomas Aquinas High School alumna was named to Canada’s Olympic rowing team as part of the women’s eight. She will be heading to Paris at the end of the month to compete until August 3.
Dent says that her community and the Kenora Rowing Club have supported her every step of the way.
“They have always stood by me,” says Dent. “The club provided me with a strong foundation in rowing, and the community’s belief in my potential has been a constant source of motivation.”
From early morning practices and local events, she says Kenora played a significant role in her development as an athlete.
“The offered unwavering emotional support and encouragement,” said Dent. “I’m deeply grateful for everything they’ve done to help me reach this point in my career.”
Getting to the Olympics has been eight years in the making for Dent.
In 2016, she fell in love with rowing when a course called ‘Learn to Row’ was hosted at her school by Rowing Canada. She then spent her first summer with the Kenora Rowing Club and was recruited by Team Manitoba for the 2017 Canada Summer Games, where her team won bronze.
Selected for the Women’s Single on the Junior National team, Dent also competed in Tokyo and placed sixth overall.
“This experience taught me that anything is possible with hard work and determination,” said Dent. “I knew I wasn’t finished.”
She competed for U23 national team from 2021 to 2023 and is now taking a gap year from school to focus on the Olympics and making the Senior National Team.
Going to Paris comes with its own set of challenges, such as funding. Dent says there have been fundraising initiatives to help her get there.
“I recently found out that I’m a 2024 CanFund recipient, which I’m so grateful for,” she said. “Now I can focus solely on my training and recovery.”
An additional challenge is maintaining peak physical and mental condition while doing rigorous training.
“Balancing intense schedules and training with proper recovery, and staying mentally strong is crucial,” said Dent. “I’m also adapting to different environments, but I see these as opportunities to build resilience.”
Her family will be in Paris to watch her compete, who have been her number one fans along with the Kenora community.
She says she looks forward to testing her skills and achieving her lifelong dream to compete with the best.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m going to cherish every moment.”