The senior men's coxed pair brings home a bronze medal from the 2012 World Rowing Senior & Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The bronze-medal crew is Kai Langerfeld of Parksville, B.C., Peter McClelland of Aurora/King City, ON, and coxswain Dane Lawson of Brockville, ON.
"It felt like we executed our race plan very well," said Langerfeld, who was a double 2011 Pan Am medalist, "we left everything out on the course."
The race was tight. Belarus won gold in 6:55.33, France picked up silver in 6:55.93, and Canada reached the podium in 6:56.61, holding off Italy's challenge (6:56.89) - Germany and the U.S. rounded out the field. (All times over 2000m).
"We executed our start just like we wanted to, which put us in a solid third place. We couldn't have asked for more in the middle and that put us where we wanted to be for the final sprint," explained Peter McClelland, a member of Western University and Ottawa Rowing Club. "I give credit to France and Belarus - they where the better boats today."
Also today, the lightweight women's quad (Elizabeth Fenje, Laura Sanhueza-Miller, Erin Snelgrove and Lindsay Sferrazza) was second in the B final (6:47.59) to finish eighth overall.
In junior events, the women's four was fourth in the B final (07:06.83), placing this boat 10th overall. The junior men's double was fourth in the E final (28th) in 6:58.42.
"It is critical that developing athletes experience high-caliber international racing, so they can reset their training intensity when they return to Canada," said RCA High Performance Development Coordinator, Chuck McDiarmid. "We have amazing athletes and coaches in Canada, we need them to understand the technical and physical requirements needed to race at this level. Every time an athlete stands up and says 'I have what it takes to be the best in the world' then follows up by putting in the hard work, the level of rowing in Canada goes up. The goal for our development program is to find these athletes, provide them with the right opportunities and build momentum towards 2016 and 2020."
Canada has one more race - tomorrow the lightweight men's pair competes in the B final of this event.
The 2012 World Rowing Senior & Junior Championships hosts international racing in age (18 and younger) and boat classes not contested at the recent Olympic regatta. This combined junior and senior event is held only Olympic years.