Jill Moffatt

Biography

Jill Moffatt made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where she competed in the lightweight women’s double sculls with Jenny Casson. They advanced to the B final and finished 12^th overall. 

The duo secured their spot for Paris 2024 when they advanced to the A final at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Their fourth-place finish at that regatta was their best world championship result together. It followed their seventh-place finish at the 2022 World Championships. 

In two Rowing World Cup appearances in 2024, Casson and Moffatt placed fifth in Varese, Italy and then fourth in Lucerne, Switzerland. 

Moffatt won the 2014 Canadian University title in the lightweight single sculls and was named the Canadian University Oarswoman of the Year, just three years after she started rowing. She then competed at the 2014 U23 World Championships in the lightweight double sculls. After another trip to the U23 Worlds in 2015 where she advanced to the B final of the lightweight double sculls, she debuted with the senior national team in 2016, finishing fourth in the lightweight quad sculls at the World Rowing Championships. 

In 2017, Moffatt competed in her first World Cup, winning the B final of the lightweight double sculls in Lucerne, Switzerland. She posted another fourth-place finish in the lightweight quad sculls at the world championships as the only holdover in the crew from the year prior. It was also in 2017 that Moffatt won the first of her back-to-back national titles in the lightweight single sculls. 

In 2018, Moffatt teamed up with Casson in the lightweight double sculls for two World Cup stops, winning the B final in Belgrade, Serbia and finishing fifth in the A final in Lucerne. She returned to the lightweight single sculls for the 2018 World Championships, where she finished fifth in the A final. 

In 2019, Moffatt faced increased anxiety as she was completing her Masters’ thesis while heading into the competitive season. Despite the emotional strain, she made the decision to race and won the lightweight single sculls at the World Cup in Poznan, Poland for her first podium at a major international event. She finished the season in the lightweight double sculls with Casson, winning the B final at the World Cup in Lucerne and then finishing eighth at the world championships, which would later give Canada an Olympic berth in the event. For Moffatt, the season was proof of her resilience as she overcame an official diagnosis of an anxiety disorder thanks to therapy, medication, and support from coaches, family and friends who helped her put one foot forward. 

A Little More About Jill

Getting into the Sport: Started rowing in 2011 as a freshman with the Western University novice team… An avid athlete, she competed in figure skating until age 16 and completed her first half marathon at age 17… Goals gradually grew from competing at Canada Games to making Canada’s U23 team to representing the country in major international events… Outside Interests: Teamed up with fellow Olympians Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, Mandy Bujold, Kim Gaucher, and Paralympian Erica Gavel to develop a project called MOMentum which advocates for family planning resources and support for parents involved in elite sport; MOMentum received an OLY Canada Legacy Grant in 2024… Loves sewing… Graduated from Western University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Health Science and then earned her Masters of Health Information Science from Western in 2019… Received a Certificate in Global Journalism from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in 2022… Has written for the National Post, Healthy Debate, and the Toronto Star… Currently works with VOICEINSPORT Foundation as their Director of Research and Policy… Odds and Ends: Looks up to American alpine skier Mikael Shiffrin for being humble, kind, and vulnerable while becoming the most accomplished alpine skier of all time… Favourite motto: “Hard work beats talent when talent isn’t working hard”…