Four Former Bears Qualify For Paris Olympics

BERKELEY – Four former members of the California Golden Bears women's rowing team recently punched their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Caileigh Filmer '18 and Sydney Payne '19 were both added to the Canadian women's eight boat that qualified for the Olympic Games via a fifth-place finish at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade. Rowan McKellar '17 will row for Great Britain in the women's eight while Inger Kavlie '17 will represent Norway in the women's double sculls. They join Kara Kohler '14 who recently won the finals of the women's single sculls at the U.S. Olympics Trials earlier this month to secure her spot.
 
This will mark Filmer's third Olympics as she won the bronze medal in the women's pair at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and rowed in the women's eight at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she finished fifth in the A final. Her other international highlights include a gold medal in the women's pair at both the 2018 World Rowing Cup I and World Rowing Championships and a silver medal in the women's pair at the 2018 World Rowing Cup III. While at Cal, Filmer rowed in the varsity eight boat that finished second overall at the 2015 NCAA Championships to help the Bears to a runner-up finish at the event.
 
This will mark Payne's second Olympic appearance after she helped Team Canada to a gold medal in the women's eight at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2023, she rowed for the Canadian national team in the women's eight, helping her team advance to the A Final at the World Rowing Championships and to a silver medal at the World Rowing Cup III. During her time in Berkeley, Payne was part of the Bears' teams that won the NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2018.
 
McKellar will be competing in her second Olympics as she rowed in the women's four at the 2020 Tokyo Games, finishing in fourth place in the A Final, just one second behind third place. She was added to Great Britain's women's eight after it qualified for a spot in the Olympics at the 2023 World Rowing Championships with a fourth-place finish in the A Final. McKellar is coming off an outstanding performance at last month's World Rowing Cup I in Varese, Italy, where she helped Great Britain to a silver medal in two events – the women's four and eight. With the Bears, McKellar was in the varsity eight boat at the 2016 NCAA Championships that finished second, helping Cal earn enough points to win the national championship.
 
This will be Kavlie's first Olympic Games. She qualified after winning the A Final in the women's double sculls at last month's European Rowing Championships. Prior to that, Kavlie took home the bronze medal in the women's single sculls at the World Rowing Cup I earlier this month. At Cal, she was also part of the varsity eight boat that finished second at the 2016 NCAA Championships, helping the Bears earn enough points to take home the overall team championship.
 
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games get underway July 26.
 
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