Despite being an accomplished beach volleyball player, Rian Lenarduzzi has now decided to dip her toes in the competitive world of rowing and aim for the 2024 Olympics.
The 24-year-old Barrie native was recently selected as one of this year’s top 100 athletes, out of more than 4,000 participants, deemed to have Olympic potential in at least one of RBC Training Ground’s eight participating Olympic sports.
RBC Training Ground is the Canadian Olympic Committee’s annual cross-country search for new Olympic talent.
Lenarduzzi says she had been involved in volleyball since her last years of high school at St. Joan of Arc in the city's south end.
“It's been about six years that I’ve been playing, and the last two years I’ve been on the national team,” Lenarduzzi told BarrieToday. “I kind of got it from my dad, who played one year at the University of Toronto as a varsity athlete.”
Lenarduzzi says her dad used to teach many different sports to her and her brother out on the driveway when they were growing up.
“I never wanted to learn volleyball. I actually started out in equestrian; I loved horseback riding," she said. "But after a while, I gave in and got my dad to show me about the sport and got into it at school in my later years."
She started her indoor volleyball in Grade 11 while also being introduced to beach volleyball in Grade 12. Lenarduzzi admits to falling in love with the game and often played in Toronto.
Since starting volleyball, Lenarduzzi has recorded top-10 finishes on both the FIVB (The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) international and NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) tours.
Lenarduzzi says her goal since she was nine years old was to compete in an Olympics and after a lot of thought, she decided rowing — and not volleyball — was her best bet to accomplish that.
“I’ve always been naturally strong, particularly having strong legs, and I’ve always loved the water,” she said. “I had nothing to lose, so I went and tested with Rowing Canada to see if I’d even be suited for the sport.”
Lenarduzzi started her training in September and travels to Welland, where the training centre is located, to hone her skills five to six days a week.
Rowing Canada's Chuck McDiarmid says Lenarduzzi tested very well in their talent identification tests and that she's “very committed to performance.”
Lenarduzzi says she plans on giving rowing the best shot she can, even taking a year off her studies at York University to focus on training.
She also credits her hometown, to a degree, with contributing to her success in sports.
“Barrie is such a sports town and allowed me to try so many different things,” Lenarduzzi said. “Growing up, I played basketball, swimming, soccer, figure skating, you name it. A lot of people don’t get that opportunity and growing up in Barrie it was easily accessible to me.”
Lenarduzzi and the other RBC finalists will now compete in the RBC Training Ground national final, with the chance of being one of 30 athletes to earn funding and a spot on Team Canada.
The 30 athletes selected for funding will be announced in early January 2022, following a nationally televised special documentary.
The complete list of 100 finalists is available at RBCTrainingground.ca.
