The women's four brought Canada its first medal at the World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland, today.
The Canadian four brings home a bronze after finishing in 6:36.87 - The Netherlands (6:31.34) and the U.S. (6:36.01) took gold and silver.
The Canadians had a good start handling the strong tailwind conditions smartly to be in second position for the first part of the race, and then hung on to third as the 2000m mark approached. Australia (6:37.71), Germany (6:42.23) and Belarus (6:42.23) followed the medalists.
The four is Sandra Kisil of Ancaster, Ont., Sarah Waterfield of Kingston Ont., Jennifer Tuters of Peterborough, Ont., and Emma Darling of Vancouver, B.C.
"The conditions were so wild, but we attacked the whole way and had a focus of staying steady and long," said Waterfield, a former Washington State rower and Kingston Rowing Club member. "It was choppy in the last 500, but we kept it internal and focused."
"We just went out and had a great race," said Darling, who, like her crewmates, picked up her first-ever World medal today. "It helped us to race the other day (in a 'race for lanes') because we learned we have to make a move early on."
In Canada's other A final today, the adaptive coxed four did not come out on the medal side of the contest, finishing fourth overall.
Great Britain dominated the race to finish in 3:25.33 and Italy secured the silver (3:28.44), with Germany getting a bronze in 3:28.90. Canada crossed the line in 3:30.44. Ukraine was fifth in 3:33.86 and Australia was back in sixth in 3:51.89. The adaptive (rowing for people with disabilities) distance is 1000 metres.
"There was a crazy tailwind, and we probably could have handled that better... It's something we have to work on," said the crew's coxswain Laura Comeau of St. Catharines, Ont. "All of the crews are getting faster as the sport develops. Today's race just shows that it's not easy to win a medal in this event. It's great to see and we know we have to work hard to get to the podium."
Comeau and Anthony Theriault of Nanaimo, B.C., Meghan Montgomery of Winnipeg, MB, and Victoria Nolan of Toronto, Ont., were part of the Paralympic team that finished sixth in Beijing and are joined by newcomer Stuart Starkey of Winnipeg, MB, this year.
"It's really exciting to be competing again," said Starkey, who was a competitive swimmer before losing much of his eyesight. "I'm disappointed I'm not bringing something home, but now I'm really looking forward to coming back again."
The Canadian lightweight men's four of Mike Lewis of Victoria, B.C., Terry McKall of Edmonton, Atla., John Sasi of Delta, B.C. and Tim Myers of Penticton, B.C. finished fifth in the B final or 11th overall in 6:02.18.
The Canadian men's pair (Dan Casaca of Toronto, Ont. and Max Lang of Lumby, B.C.) finished sixth in the B final in 6:40.06 - this crew places 12th overall.
In other highlights today, the men's single final was a tight race with Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand winning; followed by Alan Campbell of Great Britain. Veteran Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch won the women's single; followed by Katherine Grainger of Great Britain. The Polish fans were treated to a women's double gold medal; and typical favourites in the men's four, Great Britain, won gold in this event.
Tomorrow is a busy day for the Canadians with six finals - women's lightweight quad, men's lightweight double, women's lightweight double, men's coxed pair; and both the women's and men's eights.
Catch the action at http://www.worldrowing.com/
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