Sylvia (Wetzl) Kirkey
Sylvia Wetzl, now Mrs. Sylvia Kirkey, formerly of historic Glen Donald, the birth place of the farmed Col. R. R. McLennan, “Big Rory,” and Williamstown, is another Glengarry rowing celebrant of the 1980s Olympics champions to be enshrined in the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame at the induction dinner September 4th, at the Sports Palace arena, Alexandria.
Sylvia Wetzl Kirkey is the daughter of Michael Wetzel and his wife the former Magda Schneider. Sylvia attended elementary public school and Char-Lan High School, Williamstown.
Interested in sports generally, Sylvia was attracted to the strenous class of rowing and joined as a novice with the Cornwall Rowing Club, Summerstown, in the fall of 1978 and spring of ‘79.
Development was rapid and as a result Sylvia was selected to become a few member of Canada’s Youth Rowing in June 1979. In August, the short time of two months, Sylvia’s crew were gold medals winners in Moscow competing in the Women’s Eights races.
By the time Sylvia Wetzl was invited to train and challenge the major opportunity of joining the Olympic Rowing crew, hence she moved to Burnaby, B.C training camp. She was successful as she was selected a member of the Canadian Olympic Rowing crew.
Due to the Olympic boycott that was enforced, much to the disappointment of all Canadian athletes, the Olympic rowing girls competed in Amsterdam, Holland and in Lucerne, Switzerland, that summer in international races, World Championship class at Lucerne, both finalists. And the summer of 1980 women’s Eight Eight event.
All the forgoing led Sylvia to qualify for the Canadian Women’s Olympic Rowing crew the fall of 1980. When the crew was selected in June 1981, Sylvia Wetzel had attained a life time ambition; she was to be a member of the Canadian Women’s Rowing team.
The crew were gold medal winners at the Canadian Championship held in Montreal featuring the Women’s Eight races. The Canadian Olympic crew competing in the Women’s Eight races, World’s Championship at Munich, West Germany, were finalists, August 1981.
Among the many tangible awards Sylvia received she cherishes the Province of Ontario Distinguished performance in the field of Amateur Sport and the Alexandria Lions Club Vern DeGeer trophy emblematic of a Glengarry athlete receiving the most and laudable press coverage in 1982.
Now Sylvia Kirkey is retired from rowing after a brilliant career and pursuing further education as a medial laboratory technologist at St. Lawrence College there is one more award in the offing, that is artist D.A. Fales artistic painting of Sylvia to be placed in the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame museum for posterity.
