Canada’s Jacob Wassermann (Regina, Sask.) made his Paralympic debut early Friday morning in the men’s single sculls rowing (PR1), at Vaires-sur-Marne, east of Paris.
The 24-year-old did not qualify directly for the finals, and will go through the repercharge on Saturday.
His race got off to a slow start and the Canadian, who only took up rowing two years ago, was not able to make up ground over the 1,000m course. Ukraine’s Roman Polianskyi, who is the defending world champion since 2019, won the heat.
Wassermann is a survivor of the fatal Humbolt Broncos bus crash, which took the lives of 16 players, coaches, and officials of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club, on April 6, 2018.
The former goaltender, paralyzed from the waist down, went looking for another sport and eventually found rowing.
He initially had his sights set on the 2028 Los Angeles Parlympic Games, but a silver medal in an international tournament in Rio de Janeiro back in March qualified him for Paris and fast-tracked his progress in the sport.
