Canada may not be a factor in the soccer World Cup, but at the prestigious Lucerne Rowing World Cup, the lightweight women's double of Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont. and Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S., won gold today.
The Canadians won each race leading up to the final and led the field during todays race.
"I trust Tracy 100 percent," said Mara Jones, a 2004 Olympian and 2005 Ontario Female Athlete of the Year. "We had the opportunity to work together under pressure and it all seemed to come together."
Canada won in 7:11.62, with Finland in second in 7:13.60 and the U.S. grabbing a bronze in 7:16.63 (results below).
"This regatta was really about building our confidence and we really connected, not just during the races but in practice," said Cameron, a member of the Calgary Rowing Club. "We learned a lot and now we have to come back to Canada and work on the details." Canadian crews will participate in a time trial on Aug. 2 in London, Ont. before heading overseas to prepare for the World Championships in England (Aug. 20 to 27).
"They improve every time they go out," said their coach, Laryssa Biesenthal of Victoria, B.C. "They have good chemistry together." Both Jones and Cameron were members of the 2005 lightweight womens quad that won the World Championships last year.
Earlier today, the lightweight men's double of Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. and Liam Parsons of Thunder Bay, Ont. won the B final in 6:27.16 - finishing seventh overall.
Canada's lightweight men's four was third in its B final in 6:09.29, to finish ninth overall. The crew members are John Sasi of Vancouver, B.C., Mike Lewis of Victoria, Terry McKall of Edmonton, Alta., and Iain Brambell of Victoria, B.C.
"Overall it was a good regatta for us," said men's lightweight coach Bent Jensen. "Doug got the silver (yesterday) in the single, and all the crews learned something from racing in Lucerne."
In addition to the silver yesterday in the lightweight men's single from Doug Vandor, Jeff Bujas finished ninth overall in the same event.
In other racing, Romania won the women's eight event and Germany won the men's eight in a very tight race that saw Italy in second. Olaf Tufte, the Olympic champion from Norway, won the men's single. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus won the women's single and has not lost a race since 2004 when she picked up silver at the Athens Olympics.
Results (2000m): Lightweight women's double final A
1 CAN 7:11.62 (Cameron and Jones)
2 FIN 7:13.60
3 USA 7:16.63
4 IRL 7:16.88
5 AUS 7:18.46
6 GBR1 7:22.65