Kevin Richard Light (born May 16, 1979) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

Early life

He was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

but has lived in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

since 1985. He began rowing at Stelly's High School in grade 12 and graduated in 1997. He was enrolled at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

from 1997 until 2001 where he was part of numerous Canadian University Rowing Championships teams. The highlight of his university rowing career came in 2001 when Uvic beat the University of Washington at the Opening Day Regatta. He won the gold medal at both the 2003 and 2002 World Championships in Canada's men's eight team in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

respectively. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, Light and his crew finished 5th in the finals of the men's eight. Light graduated from the Victoria Motion Picture School in 2004/2005 and then the Western Academy of Photography in 2008/2009, where he studied photojournalism.

Career

In 2006 Light represented Canada along with fellow Victoria rower Malcolm Howard in the men's straight pair. The two combined for a thrilling come from behind sprint moving from 6th into a bronze medal position with 500m to go at the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton, England. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Light again won the gold medal at world championship in the eight in Munich, Germany. He was named to the Canadian men's eight for the 2008 Olympic games to be held in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He won a gold medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in the men's eights with

Andrew Byrnes James Andrew Byrnes (born May 22, 1983) is a Canadian rower and Olympic gold medallist. He was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Ithaca, New York. Byrnes is a 2005 graduate of Bates College in Maine, where he rowed for the Bates Rowing Team ...

, Kyle Hamilton, Malcolm Howard,

Adam Kreek Adam Kreek (born 2 December 1980) is an author, executive business coach and Canadian rower. He is a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. After his athletic career, Kreek's work has focused upon executive le ...

Ben Rutledge Ben Rutledge (born November 9, 1980, in Cranbrook, British Columbia) was a Canadian Olympic rower and is currently a Mortgage Broker. In Seville, Spain 2002 he was a member of Canada's inaugural Men's 8+ crew to win a gold medal at a World Champ ...

Dominic Sieterle Dominic Seiterle (born September 4, 1975) is a Canadian rower born in Montreal, Quebec. He is a 2008 Summer Olympics and World Rowing Championships gold medallist as a member of the 8+. He also won three gold medals at the 2007 World Rowing Cup r ...

Jake Wetzel Jacob Wetzel (born December 26, 1976) is a Canadian rower. He has represented both Canada and the United States at the World Championships and the Olympics. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. College years As a te ...

and cox Brian Price. In September 2012, he was brought on at

Claremont Secondary School Claremont Secondary School (CSS) is a public secondary school in Saanich, a municipality of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is operated by School District 63 Saanich. CSS is one of three secondary schools in the school district a ...

as a coach and manager. For his debut as head coach at the CSSRA in St. Catherines, Ontario, Light led the team to gold medals in three different events: the senior women's quad, the junior men's double and the junior men's quad. He coached throughout the next three years, leaving in June 2015.

Videos

Light has produced many videos, including some that feature footage of the Canada Men's team training. One of them was an entry for a competition by

Concept2 Concept2, Inc. is an American manufacturer of rowing equipment and exercise machines that is based in Morrisville, Vermont. It is best known for its air resistance indoor rowing machines (known as "ergometers" or "ergs"), which are considered ...

. ''Balls Away'' was shot in San Francisco while on a training camp in 2007. It was done with the Sony Bravia commercial in mind.

Personal life

Light has a sister named Heather Light who was born on June 23, 1981. She works at Thrifty Foods and swims for the Special Olympics team in Victoria.

References

External links

Rowing Canada – Hwt. Men – 2007 Team
* * http://kevinlight.photoshelter.com * http://500px.com/kevinlightphotography
Kevin Light on Real Champions''Ball's Away''''Inches''''Kevin's Erg Video''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Kevin 1979 births Living people Canadian male rowers Olympic rowers of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers from Vancouver Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing University of Victoria alumni