See results in row2k results section.
VICTORIA: The late morning rain in Victoria didn't slow down Canada's fastest heavyweight men and lightweight athletes today at the Canadian National Rowing Team Trials (Speed Orders) on Elk Lake.
In the lightweight women's single boat class, the first heat saw Jenny Hodgsen of the Kingston Rowing Club emerge as the winner in 7:50.08; the second heat was won by Melanie Kok of Ridley Grad Boat Club (St. Catharines) in 7:53.35; the third heat saw Amber Cuthbertson of St. Catharines Rowing Club win in 7:45.13; while Sheryl Preston of UVic took the fourth heat in 7:39.42; Mara Jones of the Argonaut Rowing Club (Toronto) won the fifth heat in 7:49.42, and Tracy Cameron of the Calgary Rowing Club took the final heat in 7:40.59.
Nova Scotia native and recent World Cup winner Cameron was a member (along with Jones, Kok and Liz Urbach) of the 2005 World Champion lightweight women's quad. "I had a real sense of confidence coming off the win at the Munich World Cup," said Cameron, who won gold in the lightweight single last month. "It was much different from past years' trials, I was very relaxed and controlled in my race this morning."
In the three heats of the men's heavyweight single, the first winner was Aaron Kroeker of the Ridley Grad Boat Club in 7:03.08; the next heat saw Dominic Seiterle of the Delta Deas Rowing Club win in 6:51.18, and Derek Porter of Vancouver Rowing Club won his race in 6:54.24.
Seiterle, originally from Montreal, said training with two-time Olympic medalist Porter has helped his race. "I spent four months training with Derek and there were some intense workouts," said Seiterle. "My goal here is really to test my speed and assess the other scullers."
In the lightweight men's pair event, Iain Brambell of the Gorge Rowing Centre (Victoria) and Jon Sasi of Burnaby Lake Rowing Club took the first heat in 6:39.74, and heat two was won by UVic's Mike Lewis rowing with Terry McKall of the Edmonton Rowing Club in 6:38.93.
This was Brambell's first race since coming fifth at the 2004 Olympics in the lightweight men's four. "It was really exciting to get back training, and I've been having a lot of fun," said Brambell, who has been on the water for approximately three months leading up to Speed Orders. "It's a really great environment training here with Bent (Jensen)."
There were four heats in the men's lightweight single: the first heat went to Doug Vandor of the Montreal Rowing Club in 6:52.01; the second heat saw Matt Jensen of the Western Rowing Club emerge as the winner in 6:53.30; then Jeff Bujas of the St. Catharines Rowing Club won the third heat in 6:54.45; and finally Paul Amesbury of the Ottawa Rowing Club took the final heat in 7:00.88.
Amesbury, a former Under-23 National Team member, was pleased with his race this morning. "My goal is to get invited into the National Team camp and this is a good first step," he said.
There weren't any major surprises in the heavyweight men's pair races this morning. Heat one saw UBC's Ben Rutledge and Kyle Hamilton win in 6:31.86; in heat two, Kevin Light of Victoria City Rowing Club and Malcolm Howard of Brentwood College won in 6:27.98; heat three saw Brentwood's Scott Frandsen and Peter Dembicki winning in 6:32.12; and UBC's Rob Weitemeyer and Chris Jarvis of St. Catharines took the final heat in 6:33.11.
Light and Howard - who both grew up in the Victoria area and rowed for Stellys Secondary school at different times - changed positions in the boat after their recent silver-medal performance in the pair at the Munich World Cup. "There's a lot I have to learn and it's easier to do that from the stroke seat," explained Howard. "We assessed what we could do after Munich. We were happy with our fitness, but we have a long way to go to be more technically sound."
Repechage races will run this evening, and semis and finals will take place on Friday. Heavyweight womens and adaptive trials take place this weekend in London, Ont.