Sophia Jensen has spent time on the water since she was a baby.

According to her mom, Jensen went on her first canoe camping trip when she was around 10 months old.

Now, the 22-year-old canoe sprinter from Chelsea, Que. is preparing to make her Olympic debut in Paris, competing in the individual 200-metre canoe sprint event.

“I’m really excited for myself and the whole team,” Jensen said. “We’ve worked really hard for really long.”

Sophia qualified for the Games in May, when she placed second in the C-1 (single-person canoe) 200-metre race at the 2024 ICF World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, finishing 62 hundredths of a second behind fellow Canadian and Olympic bronze medallist Katie Vincent.

“I felt really good, I cried quite a bit as soon as I came in second,” Jensen said. “It’s been a really, really long journey so it was super cool.”