Four of Canada's six crews at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships raced in heats today in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Patricia Obee of Victoria, BC., who also competed earlier this month at the senior World Cup in Lucerne, won her heat today. Obee, 19, took a significant lead and then won the heat in 08:20.58, followed by a Swiss sculler in 08:30.62, and then the U.S. in 08:40.21.
"Patricia had a solid heat and maintained a good technical focus. She is looking forward to facing some good competition in the semifinals on Friday," said Canadian women's development coach, Michelle Darvill.
The lightweight women's double was third in its heat in 07:38.95, and advances to the semi. This crew is Elizabeth Fenje of Victoria, BC, and Sydney Boyes of St. Catharines, ON.
The lightweight men's four also advances to the semifinals, after a third-place finish today in 06:29.48. This crew is Ian Connell of Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Eric Woelfl of St. Catharines, ON, Stuart Taylor of Brockville, ON, and Sylas Coletto of Vineland, ON. France and Poland also advanced from this heat.
"The lightweight four raced well for their first international competition together," said coach Pat Newman. "They will be focusing over the next couple of days on fine tuning their race plan."
The U23 men's pair - Benjamin de Wit of Nakusp, BC, and Adam Rabalski of Guelph, ON - was fourth in the heat in 07:14.54, and with only the first-place finisher advancing to the semi, the pair must row in a rep tomorrow to advance.
"More than 50 percent of our athletes here are new to racing internationally," said RCA's High Performance Development Coordinator, Chuck McDiarmid. "The heats gave them a great opportunity to test their boat speed and make adjustments as needed. Everyone raced well, and we are looking forward to seeing them raise their game over the next three days."
Yesterday the men's four raced and next row in a semi tomorrow. The women's eight has yet to see action, but will "race for lanes" tomorrow and contend for medals on Sunday, the final day of the regatta.