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Karissa Riley

@karissa.riley

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Lightweight Sculler | CRC | Alberta Rowing 🚣🏻‍♀️ 🇨🇦
MSc Student - UCalgary
SHARK Team Athlete @beashark 🦈
• 2023 U23 World Championship LW1x 🥉

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Canadian Karissa Riley returns to the SHARK Team for 2026—a fierce lightweight bringing experience, speed, and a relentless edge to racing. #beashark🦈 @rowingcanada @karissa.riley
🔗 Link in bio by @karissa.riley

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9 months ago

Oh Boston… You have my heart! 😍🚣🏻‍♀️🍂
#beashark
#row
#hocr taken in Head Of The Charles Regatta by @karissa.riley

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an hour ago

Starting the HOCR action off with HUDSON!!

#beashark #rowing #usrowing #athlete #boston taken in Head Of The Charles Regatta by @karissa.riley

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3 days ago

Cruising into race week! 🔜 My first time at @hocr1965
LW1x (@calgary_rowing Event # 40, Bow #6) - Saturday 2:48pm EST 🚣🏻‍♀️🦈

#beashark
#headofthecharles
🎥 @coachclaireyyc by @karissa.riley

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6 days ago

From start to finish 🏆🚣🏼‍♀️🥇@beashark athlete @karissa.riley cruises to a Henley gold in the Senior Lightweight Women’s 1x, recapturing her 2024 title.

#rowing #sculling #beashark #rowingcanada #HUDSON taken in Royal Canadian Henley Regatta by @karissa.riley

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2 months ago

Ready to have some fun! @henleyregattaca
#beashark 🦈🔥 by @karissa.riley

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2 months ago

#FeatureFriday , PART 2 ‼️ Shark Week edition 🦈 @beashark
Today we are highlighting two SHARK Athletes, now @karissa.riley . Read about what being a SHARK athlete means to her:
Being a SHARK is about truly embodying resilience and grit. It’s the choice to lean into the pain, knowing that real speed isn't handed to you—it’s earned through hard work, the sessions where it’s just you, the water and your boat. It’s the grind when nobody else is watching.
Being a SHARK means you embrace a never enough attitude. You’re never satisfied. Every single split, every stroke, and every race is just a stepping stone to find more. The search is always there, which is addicting- you always want to squeeze every last drop of speed out of yourself and the boat.
At the end of the day, though, you’re in it for the fun of the hunt and the enjoyment you get from the journey. Beneath all the blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears, you actually love the battle, the process and of course, the community. That’s what hooked me when I started back in 2018—becoming obsessed with a sport that somehow both clears my head and gives me the ultimate euphoric rush from making a boat fly.
The SHARK mindset is what took me through winning four Canadian University Rowing Championships with the University of Western Ontario, and propelled my career racing for Canada on the world stage over the past five years. From capturing bronze at U23 Worlds in 2023 in the BLW1x to fighting my way to 7th in the lightweight women’s single at the 2025 World Championships, every single stroke has been fueled by that exact hunt and supported by a community that pushes you higher, believes in your absolute potential, and shares every victory and heartbreak. I am incredibly proud to be training in my hometown of Calgary AB Canada and represent both the Calgary Rowing Club (@calgary_rowing) and the Alberta Rowing Association (@alberta_rowing) as I continue to push my limits in the pursuit of excellence. #beashark
#rowing #canada #jlathletics by @karissa.riley

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3 months ago

Final preparations are underway for #AlbertaOpen2026 … see you on the start line! 🚣‍♂️🦈🔥

#beashark #calgary #rowing taken in The Calgary Rowing Club by @karissa.riley

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4 months ago

Feeling fast and fabulous in my new 💕💗 Pink SHARK gear!! 💕💗 Thanks @beashark !! by @karissa.riley

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5 months ago

Upside down or right side up?

📸 = July 2025
#rowing #beashark #singlescull by @karissa.riley

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7 months ago

SHARK Team athlete Karissa Riley on her coach, Alex Marchuk, winning the 2025 RCA Excellence Award for Coach of the Year 🏆 #beashark🦈

“Working with Alex in the coach-athlete relationship is an absolute joy. Her commitment as a coach goes well beyond athletic development to helping me (and others) feel holistically supported and grow as individuals through sport. Receiving RCA Coach of the year is far beyond well deserved! I am so incredibly grateful to have her guidance and support as I continue to push for my dreams and goals. Congratulations Alex!!”

@rowingcanada @calgary_rowing @coach_alexm @karissa.riley by @karissa.riley

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8 months ago

Doing it all for little Karissa 🥹

🎥 Inspired by @philybowden

#rowing #row #canadianathlete by @karissa.riley

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9 months ago