A woman who is living her dream.

It takes more than raw physical talent to be a successful athlete.  It takes discipline, determination, ambition, tenacity and the courage to dream.  And if, like Andréanne Morin, you dream to compete in the Olympic Games, you must be prepared to make sacrifices.

“To race at your best, you must train to the limit of your endurance,” said Andréanne, whose rigorous six-day training schedule includes 250K of rowing plus hours of weight training and running. 

The youngest and only francophone member of the 2004 women’s 8 rowing team, who was given the nickname “French Fry”, Andréanne is no stranger to challenge; in fact, she thrives on it.  When she came to The Study from a French school in Grade 6, she found herself thrust into an English environment.  “Andréanne was very goal-oriented and tenacious.  She wanted to express herself, to confront challenges and to master the tools she knew she would need in life,” recalled her English teacher Edna Reingewirtz.

Andréanne also showed her competitive and leadership skills on the sports field and was elected Sports Captain in her graduating year.  “Looking back, I realize that The Study played an important role in my life.  It was there that I gained my confidence and came to know what I was capable of,” she said.

In 1996 a ski accident forced Andréanne to abandon her dream of being an Olympic ski racer.  Her father suggested that she take up rowing and soon Andréanne was hooked.  “I knew that if I mastered the basics and put in extra time and effort, rowing could take me to the top,” she said.  Within a year she had earned a spot on the Quebec women’s 4 rowing team that competed in the Canada Games in Brandon, Manitoba, placing fourth.

During her grade 11 year, Andréanne continued her training and during the summer of 1998 competed with the Junior National team at a regatta in Austria, placing fourth in a photo finish.  “We were so incredibly close to winning a medal.  I realized that what I wanted was within my reach,” she recalled.

After graduating from The Study, Andréanne spent two years at Exeter Academy, where she juggled a heavy workload with a rigorous training schedule.  In the summer of 1999 she rowed in the pairs in the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria and the following summer she competed in the single scull event at the Canadian Henley in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, the country’s largest regatta.

In the fall of 2000, Andréanne headed off to Princeton, where she earned a place on the varsity rowing team.  Within two months her crew finished fifth at the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Championships.

Andréanne still dreamed of rowing for Canada in the Olympics and after returning to Princeton in the fall of 2002, she faced a very difficult decision.  “I realized that if I wanted to compete in the Olympics it was now or never and I had to make my move” .

Nonetheless, the decision to take a leave from Princeton was very stressful.  “I knew that I was making a huge sacrifice leaving school and my friends behind.  What if I didn’t make the team?”

Once the agonizing decision was made, there was no turning back. Andréanne threw herself into training with the women’s 8 team.  Hard work brought success in the summer of 2003, with a first place finish at the world championship race in Lucerne, Switzerland.  Then came a race in Milan, Italy, which would determine whether the team would qualify for the Olympics.  “We came in third and our bronze medal felt like a gold!” said Andréanne.

Recalling the team’s disappointing finish at the 2004 Olympics, Andréanne said: “I wanted to have a sense of closure, but I don’t.”  She returned to Princeton to complete her studies in Politics and Economics and decided to pursue her Olympic dream once again – this time in Beijing.

“Once I have achieved what I want in rowing, it will be time to move on to other challenges,” said Andréanne.