Brendan Hodge ’07

Men's Lightweight Rowing: Coxless Four Boat, Canada

Returning to rowing after an eight-year hiatus in international competition, Hodge will be rowing in the coxless lightweight four boat for Team Canada in the Rio Olympics. Hodge, a Government concentrator while at Harvard, joined Canada’s Olympic team after not competing on the international circuit since the 2005 World U23 Championships. His return to the sport was sparked by the appearance of the team in the London Games in 2012, and after seeing his country compete there Hodge was not ready to give up rowing altogether.

His road back to the Olympic stage started after the 2012 Games, when he began once again to train for the first time since his 2005 World Championships appearance. A year after he began training once again he was invited to train with the Canadian national team. Months later he was on the competitive platform again, racing in the 2013 World Cup where he finished 16th manning a spot on the lightweight four. In the 2013 World Championships, eight years after his last appearance in the race, he placed fourth in the lightweight pair. In the 2014 edition of the same race, he and his teammates on Canada’s lightweight four took home 13th place.

Hodge’s Olympic berth came on the heels of his boat’s gold medal performance in the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, where they secured a big in Rip with their 11th place finish.

In between his time rowing for the Crimson heavyweight team and his opportunity to represent his home country in Rio, Hodge pursued a career in law, returning to his birthplace of British Columbia and attending UBC law school from 2007-2010. Following law school he began practicing law at Lawson Lundell LLP before leaving the profession behind to pursue his Olympic career in 2013.

In addition to being a member of the lightweight rowing team while at Harvard, Hodge served as a mechanic for Quadbikes.

–Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at ariel.smolik-valles@thecrimson.com.