Rowing's first World Cup of the year in Linz/Ottensheim, Austria, started off with some great conditions for racing, and many of Canada's crews had the first chance to test their performances on the world stage today with some mixed results.
Canada's Lindsay Jennerich of Victoria, B.C. and Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S., both experienced racers, got off to a great start in their heat this morning. The Danish lightweight double of Sine Christiansen and Kirsten Jepsen kept the pressure on, but Canada remained in the lead. Canada (7:28.59), Denmark (7:31.09) and Switzerland (7:33.71) moved to the quarterfinal from this heat.
Jennerich and Cameron then went on to win their race this afternoon in 7:14.84 (all times over 2000 metres) to comfortably advance to the next round of competition.
2006 World Champions - Jane Rumball of Fredericton, N.B. and Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, B.C. - were upset by an Australian pair, finishing second in their heat this morning. In the rep they were also second with a time of 7:14.09, behind the Americans Megan Cooke and Anna Mickelson who finished in 7:12.67. Rumball and Marquardt will advance to the semis.
"This morning's race was a combination of things - my own feeling is that we went off the line and we didn't have the gas that we normally do. We just didn't have any fuel to respond to the other crew," said Marquardt, who also raced in the women's pair event at the 2004 Olympics. "But we had a better race this afternoon. As our coach Carsten (Hassing) said today, you learn so much more from races you don't win.... Now we have to race every race as if it was the final."
Returning three-time Olympian Derek Porter of Victoria and 2004 Olympic medalist Jake Wetzel of Saskatoon, Sask. were third in their heat in 6:40.77 earlier today in the men's double event. Estonia took first in this heat and advanced to the semis, while the Canadians rowed in the rep this afternoon. This time another Estonian double finished first in 6:29.60, after edging out the Canadians who finished second in 6:32.42. Porter and Wetzel move to the semi-finals.
Barney Williams of Saltspring Island, B.C. and Scott Frandsen of Kelowna, B.C. were second in their heat in 6:58.77, with a French pair in first in 6:51.90, and a German pair in third in 7:05.41. These 2004 Olympians - Williams from the four; and Frandsen in the eight boat - will advance to the semis.
The Canadian lightweight men's double - Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que, and Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. - was second in its heat in 6:39.74, just behind Japan (6:37.09). They moved to the quarter finals where they won their race this afternoon in 6:40.04, just ahead of the Italians who were second in 6:40.46.
"We are happier with our second race than the first, but we were able to get some of the butterflies out and now we can focus on tomorrow," said Vandor, who has been training with Jensen since early this year. "Matt and I have been working really hard together and we hope this will pay off."
Terry McKall of Edmonton, Alta., and John Sasi of North Delta, B.C., racing in the lightweight men's pair, were third in their heat in 6:51.51 and move to the semi-finals.
The men's quad of Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House, B.C., Jamie Faris of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Steve Van Knotsenburg of Beamsville, Ont., and Chris Jarvis of St. Catharines, Ont. were fourth in the heat this morning. In the repechage the quad was in an extremely tight race that saw Great Britain in first in 6:00.08, followed by Belarus 6:00.57; Hungary 6:00.85 and Canada, although leading for most of the race, in fourth in 6:01.26. They move to the C final.
The lightweight men's four of Liam Parsons of Thunder Bay, Ont., Mike Lewis of Victoria, Jon Beare of Toronto, and Iain Brambell of Victoria, B.C. were fourth in this morning's heat and this afternoon got off to a shaky start in their race and were also fourth in the rep.
Conditions changed throughout the day - with cooler afternoon conditions that included light rain, followed by thunder storms.
Canada's men's and women's eights and a women's quad will also race this weekend. The regatta continues tomorrow - follow results at www.worldrowing.com.