Jessica (Monroe) Gonin

Biography

Jessica Monroe competed in rowing’s coxless fours with Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor and Kay Worthington, an event held only once, at Barcelona 1992. Canada won its opening round heat by a margin of nearly two seconds and in the final, they were the far superior crew winning the gold medal. Monroe became a double Olympic champion at Barcelona 1992, as she was a member of the coxed eights crew that also won gold. Four years later at Atlanta 1996, now married and 30 years of age, Monroe-Gonin collected a silver with the Canadian eights crew of Heather McDermid, Tosha Tsang, Maria Maunder, Alison Korn, Emma Robinson, Anna Van der Kamp, Theresa Luke and Lesley Thompson-Willie.

A Victoria High School graduate in 1984, Monroe started rowing at False Creek and University of Victoria clubs when she was well into her 20s. Within a year joined the Canadian national team in 1989. A three-time World Championships medalist, Monroe-Gonin won two gold in 1991 in world record times (coxless fours, eights) and one silver in 1997 (eights); in 1995 she was sixth (eights).

Monroe was inducted into the Canadian Olympic and British Columbia in 1994, Greater Victoria Hall of Fame in 2009 and Canadian Sports Halls of Fame in 2013.