April 16, 2024

“I’ve been immersed in climate change almost since the day I was born.” So says Canadian Olympic rower Jenny Casson, a newly minted EcoAthletes Champion.

This is not hyperbole.

You see, the Quebec-born Casson was brought by her parents to a cottage on a small private island owned by her extended family near Kingston, Ontario when she was only three days old. “My grandfather bought the island from the church when they were looking to sell it,” she shared. “Mom and each of her seven siblings now have a cottage there. Growing up, I spent every summer on the island. My cousins and I were outside, running around and in nature 24-7, or so it seemed. Dad, an environmental scientist and marine biologist, would point out how climate change was destroying trees and making our small ecosystem hospitable to invasive species. We had to move the dock four times in ten years due water level increases due to climate change.”

A self-described hyperactive, fidgety kid, Casson tried her own smorgasbord of sports, from skiing to swimming, skating to running, soccer to cycling. Sports helped her adjust to the initial loneliness of a permanent family move to Kingston when she was 12 but that adjustment was soon severely tested.

“My mom, brother and I were in a boating accident when we crashed into a ferry on the morning of September 23, 2010, where my mom and I were initially unconscious,” she recounted. “We were on our way to school when we crashed. There were propane tanks in the back that hit my mother and knocked her teeth and knee in. My brother had to drive us to safety before the boat sank.” I suffered a concussion that led to a very long recovery and grew worried that I would never be able to play sports again.”

Despite her terrifying experiences on the water Casson found sports salvation through rowing, following her brother’s lead.

“He tried and loved it, so I gave it a go in 2011 when I was 17,” she remembered. “It fit my body type and I loved everything about it, the team aspect, the discipline, and the coach. The only problem was that I was so bad at it, really bad. I had no coordination, no boat feel. There was lots of laughter at my expense, but I was OK with that. It drove me.” So, Casson put in the work and quickly got stronger and better. And better. At 18, she posted an ERG (aka rowing machine) time of 7:24 for the 2K. This was good enough for her to earn a scholarship to a US college rowing program. She chose the University of Tulsa (Oklahoma), in part because of the stunning natural beauty of its campus.

After a difficult freshman year (“my eating habits were crap”), she moved into her own apartment and started cooking for herself. With home cooking and less cafeteria food, she lost weight. This coincided with Casson turning into a beast in the boat, becoming a strong leader on the team. The harder she worked, the faster her times got. Her high school rowing coach noticed and suggested she submit an ERG time to Rowing Canada.

“I submitted at the right time for the lightweight rowing standard for U23s and got invited to a Rowing Canada training camp in Florida in 2016,” recounted Casson. “Prior to the camp, I had been rowing in 8s and 4s but for this camp, I had to learn solo sculling as that’s one of only lightweight categories in the Olympics. It was very different since you row with two oars in sculling versus one oar in 8s, 4s and 2s. The training wasn’t the best given my skill set but I stayed in touch with the coaches and kept on pushing.

After graduating from Tulsa in 2016, Casson switched to lightweight 2s and again rowed in the summer with the U23 Canadian Team. The next summer, she stepped up to the Senior level, coming in 4th place for Canada’s lightweight 4s team at the World Championships. This gave her a shot of confidence as she began to train with the national team in Victoria on Vancouver Island with an eye towards qualification for what would become the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Soon that confidence — and more — would be shattered.

“I had an awful coach who prayed on my vulnerabilities,” she reported. “He groomed and abused me. This led me to overcompensate my lack of control and seek it in other areas of my life. I suffered from bulimia, depression, and severe anxiety. Being in lightweight made things even worse. Then I tore my labrums in both hips. Somehow, my partner Jill Moffat and I made the Olympic lightweight 2s for Tokyo, but it was not the experience I had always dreamed it would be. I was miserable and didn’t row well. Blaming myself, I returned home and began to double down on my training. As one could have easily predicted, this led to a complete breakdown.”

Unable to walk without pain she ultimately opted to have both hips repaired surgically, having three procedures between October 2021 and January 2022. Needing time to heal and fully recover, Casson moved back to Kingston with her parents who supported her recovery in more ways than she thought possible. During this time, she began having conversations with Moffat about her potential return. They talked about when that would be and how they could come back better, stronger, healthier, and happier than ever before. All they needed was a great coach to lead them forward and an environment that would help them flourish.

Even with the well-regarded Jeremy Ivey in place as her new mentor, the rowing community was dubious about Casson’s prospects to qualify for the September 2022 World Championships. She committed to proving them wrong, but only in a healthy way: “I worked with my sports psychologist and a trauma-informed psychiatrist; doing so allowed me to put my bulimia in the rearview mirror. And eventually Jill and I made to Worlds, finishing a respectable seventh, despite me not being in optimal physical shape. I continued to work on fitness and that paid off in 2023, when we won the Henley doubles championship and finished the year ranked fourth in the world, which qualified us for Paris! Coach Ivey is a big factor in our success as he is the first to allow us to be the loud, dramatic individuals that we are. And have no doubt, we are going for GOLD, no matter the obstacles. I mean, nothing in the boat can compare to what I experienced out of it.”

Casson brings that same toughness to the #ClimateComeback. “Speaking up when it’s uncomfortable and stating the truth with clarity is crucial, whether we’re talking about abuse or climate change,” she asserted. “Athletes, with our platforms, must step up to help people see what’s happening with our climate and how we can spark a turnaround.”

Despite her aforementioned lifelong climate immersion, she felt she didn’t know enough about the science to be a credible public speaker on the topic. So, Casson entered ‘Environmental Impact Climate Activist Athletes Group’ into a Google search and came across EcoAthletes.

“As I looked through their website I thought, ‘this organization seems perfect for me!’, she enthused. “I loved how athletes from all over the world come to the organizations at all levels of climate knowledge and climate confidence. I’ve only been a Champion for a short while, but I’ve learned a lot already. I am excited to speak out for climate solutions and climate action in the run up to the Paris Olympics and beyond.”

To Lew Blaustein, EcoAthletes founder and CEO, Casson has already made a difference in the #ClimateComeback in her short time as a Champion.

“Jenny’s openness, her desire to learn and then to share what she’s learned on climate has been evident in Champions’ Community Chats, brainstorming sessions, and more,” he related. “While Paris will be her last Olympics, her impact as an EcoAthletes Champion is just beginning.”

You can follow Jenny on Instagram