The Canadian National Rowing Team's men's eight, men's four and lightweight men's four looked very strong today in semi-final action at the 2003 BearingPoint World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The Canadian men's eight won its semi-final in 5:32.47 - with Italy (5:33.89), and the Netherlands (5:35.24) also qualifying for the final. They will meet the Germans, Australians and Croatians in the hunt for medals tomorrow.
"We had an excellent first 500 metres, kept our eye on the Italians and sat on them most of the way," said men's eight member Jeff Powell. "We're racing all three days so we didn't want to kill ourselves in the semi-final today.”
Although the Canadians won the World Championships last year, several of the members are still relatively new to this level of competition. “We’re young and learning a lot about ourselves with each race,” said Powell, “and we’re very excited to race the Germans tomorrow.”
Members of the eight are Dave Calder of Victoria, B.C., Kyle Hamilton of Richmond, B.C., Andrew Hoskins of Edmonton, Alta., Adam Kreek of London, Ont., Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C., Jeff Powell of Winnipeg, Man., Ben Rutledge of Cranbrook, B.C., Joe Stankevicius of Dundas, Ont. and Brian Price of Belleville, Ont. (cox)
The Canadian lightweight men's four was a close second (5:58.61) to the consistently strong crew from Denmark (5:58.00), with Germany finishing in third to also advance to the final. Qualifying in the other semi was Italy (5:56.04), The Netherlands (5:56.88) and Australia (6:00.65), setting the stage for an exciting race for the medals tomorrow.
"It was quite a comfortable transition to be back in the boat," said Jon Beare, a 2000 Olympian who re-joins the lightweight men's four after rowing in the lightweight men's pair last year. "The race felt good, and we know we can run with these guys." The lightweight men's four consists of Gavin Hassett of Victoria, B.C., Jon Mandick of Edmonton, Alta., Jon Beare of Toronto, Ont. and Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que.
Barney Williams of Salt Spring Island, B.C., Jake Wetzel of Saskatoon, Sask., Cam Baerg of Saskatoon, Sask. and Tom Herschmiller of Comox, B.C., rowing in the men's four event, again looked like they belong - qualifying for tomorrow's final in a tight race with some of the world's top crews. The Canadians finished just behind Germany (5:53.81) and Great Britain (5:54.74) in a time of 5:54.79.
"I'm delighted that they are in the ballpark," said men’s coach Mike Spracklen, who also coaches the men's eight. "They were only together for two weeks before Henley (last week) and they are competing with World Champions."
The other semi of men's four event saw Italy (5:52.05), Slovenia (5:52.69) and Russia (5:52.85) qualify for the final, with Romania so close in 5:52.89, but missing out on a chance to proceed to the medal round.
"Obviously, the competition is really tough, but the Canadian crews qualified with some good performances," said head coach Brian Richardson. "We're on pace."
Also today, in a warm-up exhibition race for tomorrow's women's eight final, the Canadian crew was third in 6:16.58 - Romania and Germany were first and second respectively.
The Canadian lightweight women's double, which failed to qualify for the medal round, has withdrawn from any further racing due to illness.
Canada has crews in five medal races tomorrow - the women's pair, lightweight men's four, men's four, women's eight and men's eight. Full results can be found at http://www.worldrowing.com/
BearingPoint World Cup Lucerne, Switzerland July 11-13, 2003 Canadian Results - Semi-finals 2000 metres Conditions: calm, sunny
Men's eight (top three to A final) 1 CAN 05:32.47 2 ITA 05:33.89 3 NED 05:35.24 4 POL 05:36.57 5 CZE 05:39.20 6 AUS2 05:39.58
Lightweight men's four (top three to A final) 1 DEN 05:58.00 2 CAN 05:58.61 3 GER 06:00.53 4 YUG 06:03.69 5 IRL 06:05.24 6 JPN 06:07.99
Men's four (top three to A final) 1 GER 05:53.81 2 GBR 05:54.74 3 CAN 05:54.79 4 DEN 06:02.29 5 POL 06:02.77 6 NZL 06:04.72