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Later this week, Bayleigh Hooper of Owen Sound will be departing for Tokyo with Team Canada for the Paralympic Games.
Hooper is on the Canadian team in PR3 Mixed 4 Rowing along with crew mates Andrew Todd, Victoria Nolan, Kyle Fredrickson and Laura Court
This group has competed internationally before, almost 3 years ago at the World Championships in Bulgaria
At that event, Canada finished 4th in the final posting a time of 7 minutes 10.21 seconds.
While they finished 4th in 2018, the Canadian crew was more than 5 seconds behind the bronze medallists which in racing of any description is a lifetime.
However, as The Monkees said, that was then, this is now.
Through the passing of years and upgraded recent training sessions in British Columbia, Bayleigh Hooper believes the Canadian crew can threaten, if not break through, the 7 minute barrier.
Canada’s first race is a week away, slotted for 10:30 pm our time on August 26th.
Depending on their results, Canada will either go straight to the ” A ” Finals or into the Repechage the following day.
Bayleigh Hooper and her crew mates fully intend to be in the ” A ” Final and in medal contention come the evening of August 28th.