Canada won five medals today - including golds in the men's four and men's eight events - at the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany.
"We had a better day that we expected at this point and it's a good start to our World Cup campaign," said Canadian National Team head coach Brian Richardson. "In addition to the four and eight, it was great to see the men's pair, women's pair and lightweight double perform well today. We've learned a lot here and now have training time before the Lucerne World Cup to further develop our crews."
The men's four of Tom Herschmiller of Comox, B.C., Jake Wetzel of Saskatoon, Sask., Barney Williams of Salt Spring Island, B.C., and Cam Baerg of Saskatoon proved that they have staying power - beating the Germans to win gold. Germany put in a strong fight and crossed the line in 6:21.91, but not quite enough to beat Canada's 6:21.24. The British four, who were expected to give Canada its biggest challenge, finished in fifth place.
The Canadian men's eight, the boat to beat in this event, also did not disappoint today. The eight won gold in 5:47.34. Germany was second in 5:49.49 and the Netherlands picked up a bronze in 5:54.33.
"I was nervous going into the race because of the expectations, but we had to trust our abilities," said Kevin Light, two-time World Champion in the men's eight. "Racing is always fun after winter training, and we realize that the training we put in is still right for us.
"But Germany is tired of us winning, so they put a real good push on at the 1000-metre mark," continued Light. "And in Lucerne (for the next World Cup), USA and Romania will be there, so we're going have to be even better."
Crew member Darren Barber, a veteran of the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, agrees that Canada cannot take its number-one position for granted.
"Our competition is getting faster and everyone is going to try to catch you off guard. You can see that in the eight and fours event," said Barber. "They are all training really hard and the level of competition is getting higher because of the Olympics - we are going to face faster crews in Lucerne."
The 2004 men's eight members are Jeff Powell of Winnipeg, Man., Scott Frandsen of Kelowna, B.C., Andrew Hoskins of Edmonton, Alta., Adam Kreek of London, Ont., Chris Jarvis of St. Catharines, Ont., Darren Barber of Victoria, B.C. Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C., Joe Stankevicius of Dundas, Ont., and Brian Price (cox) of Belleville, Ont.
The women's pair of Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, B.C. and Karen Clark of Delta, B.C. were second in 7:43.14, with Great Britain winning in 7:39.79.
Although Clark has rowed in this event in the past three World Championships (with Jacqui Cook), this is Marquardt's first World Cup in Canada's top pair.
The lightweight women's double of Fiona Milne of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. and Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont. also took silver today after finishing second to Germany. The winning time was 7:30.51, with Canada in 7:33.96 and the Netherlands taking the bronze in 7:34.89.
The men's pair combination of veteran racers - Dave Calder of Victoria and Kyle Hamilton of Richmond, B.C. - picked up a bronze medal today with a time of 7:00.29. Italy won the event in 6:58.46, followed by South Africa in second in 6:59.39.
The Canadian women's eight of Sarah Pape (cox) of Toronto, Ont., Karen Clark of Delta, B.C., Romina Stefancic of Victoria, B.C., Sabrina Kolker of West Vancouver, B.C., Roslyn McLeod of Burlington, Ont., Andréanne Morin of Montreal, Que., Jacqui Cook of Burlington, Ont., Pauline Van Roessel of Bow Island, Alta. and Anna-Marie DeZwager of Victoria, B.C. finished fifth in the final of this event.
The lightweight men's four, after a disappointing semi-finals, won the B final today and finish in seventh place overall in its boat-class.
"The lightweight men's four probably had the toughest field here," said Brian Richardson. "They are strong and looking for a better result in Lucerne."