Another full day of racing at the National Rowing Championships (Nov. 9 to 11) gave spectators and coaches a look at the up and coming rowing talent from across the country. Today‚s semi finals set the stage for tomorrow's medals races, which promise to be exciting.
"The calibre of competition is very high," said Rowing Canada Aviron High Performance Director Peter Cookson. "The racing has caught the interest of our national team high performance staff as they witness what the potential national team athletes can do on the water"
In the women's single, Ontario's Carling Zeeman dominated the field. The 2012 World Under 23 bronze medalist won her semi in 7:51.06. She was followed by Antje von Seydlitz (BC) in 8:05.97 and Emily Cameron, representing the National Training Centre, was third in 8:11.17.
"It was a really fast start," said Zeeman. "There are some quick girls who definitely wanted it from the get go and I had to work to stay ahead of them and then the rough water hit, so I had to switch my focus to stay calm and relaxed. ... I feel really confident for tomorrow, I'm in a good position."
The other semi was won by Kerry Shaffer (8:00.17), followed by Ontario's Lisa Farthofer in 8:05.141 and Nicole Hare of Alberta in 8:07.359.
In the first semi of the women's pair, National Training Centre athletes - Sarah Black of Ottawa and Carolyn Ganes of Saskatoon - won in 7:27.13; followed by Rosie deBoef and Christine Roper 7:30.836 and juniors Kelsey Farmer and Caileigh Filmer (7:45.72) of BC.
Kate Goodfellow of Ottawa and Jennifer Martins of Toronto won the next women‚s pair semi in 7:23.160. In second was Kristen Bauder and Lisa Romans (7:23.94) of Rowing BC; Elise Mackie and Claire Hutchinson of Ontario were third in 7:38.348.
The lightweight women's single first semi finished with Erin Snelgrove (National Training Centre) on top in 8:07.535, followed by Katherine Enns of BC 8:10.567 and Emily Garry, also rowing for BC, in 8:13.77.
The second lightweight women's semi saw the following athletes advance: Teresa Berkholtz (8:00.258) of BC, Lilianne Page (8:07.508) of Ontario and Ricki Baxter (8:08.301) rowing for BC.
The men's single semi number one was won by Matt Buie (6:57.65) of Ontario, with National Training Centre athlete Kai Langerfeld in 6:59.356 and BC's Josh Morris 7:05.278 also advancing to the finals.
The second semi-final of this event was won by Adam Rabalski in 7:06.047, representing Ontario, followed by Jamie Abbass (7:07.875) of New Brunswick and Pascal Lussier (7:10.828) of Quebec.
The men's pair of Will Dean of Kelowna, B.C and Spencer Crowley of Lantzville, B.C. won the first semi of this event in 6:51.92. Ontario's Mark Dawidek and David Lariviere 6:52.797 and Alex Jansen and Robert Gage of Rowing BC (6:54.859) also advance.
Dean, a 2012 Olympian (men's four), was satisfied with the race today: "I really enjoyed the last year‚s training and the Olympics, and racing this weekend with Spencer is a lot of fun - we are happy with how we are progressing and are looking forward to the finals tomorrow."
Ontario's Mark Alm and Tim Schrijver (6:51.914) looked strong in the second semi of this event. They were followed by Ontario's Lance Brazeau and Nick Schudlo 6:54.195; and in third Christopher Marshall and Gareth Lindstrom 6:56.633, also representing Ontario.
Taylor Pluzak of Ontario won the first semi of the lightweight men's single in 7:13.617. Mark Henry of Ontario was second in 7:18.602, and Dylan Harris was third in 7:20.914.
Ole Tietz of Alberta won the second semi in this category in 7:19.63, followed by Valentin Dunsing of BC in 7:23.258, and Matt Christie of Ontario in 7:24.476.
Finals will be held tomorrow morning on Elk Lake in Victoria, BC, with national champions crowned in junior, under 23 and senior categories.