The Canadian crews all raced in reps today at the World Rowing Junior Championships in challenging rainy conditions on the Racice regatta course near Prague, Czech Republic.
The women's quad will now race in the B final on Saturday, as will the men's eight on Sunday morning and the men's quad will race in the C/D semi-final tomorrow.
The women's quad raced first and went out on the water greeted by sheets of rain and limited visibility. In the end they finished fourth in 7:02.38 - a few seconds ahead of the crew from New Zealand - with the Ukrainians and the Americans qualifying in first and second respectively from this rep. Canadian crew members are Renae Barks of Regina, Sask. (Regina Rowing Club), Kayla Wakulich of Ridgeville, Ont. (South Niagara Rowing Club), Marissa Kump of St. Catharines, Ont. (St. Catharines Rowing Club), and Erin Snelgrove of Jordan, Ont. (St. Catharines Rowing Club). This crew will now row for places seven to 12 in the B final.
The men's eight were in a tough rep with Great Britain and the Czech Republic leading the way. The Canadians found themselves in a different position at the 1000-metre mark, four seconds down from first place. A late charge in the last 500 metres almost pushed the Canadians into the A final, only to lose to the Czechs by 0.26 seconds at the 2000-metre finish line. Great Britain won in 5:47.01, the Czech boat's time was 5:48.80, and Canada finished third in 5:49.06. Top two boats advance to the A final.
The eight is Trofym Anderson of Welland Ont. (South Niagara Rowing Club), Coleman Bak of Brockville, Ont. (Brockville Rowing Club), Spencer Freeman of Calgary, AB (Calgary Rowing Club), Jamie Law-Smith of Montreal (Montreal Rowing Club/Dawson College), Quinten Richardson of Vancouver, B.C. (Shawnigan Lake School), Steven Marino of Victoria (St. George's School), Christopher Marshall of Brockville (Brockville Rowing Club), Pat O'Shaughnessy-Hunter of Brockville (Brockville Rowing Club), and Ryan Sanders of St. Catharines (St. Catharines Rowing Club).
The Canadian Junior men's quad also raced today, despite an illness of one of the crew members. The crew finished sixth in the rep and will race tomorrow in the C/D final. The quad is Martin Barakso of Nanaimo, B.C. (Brentwood College School), Sash Malowany of Toronto, Ont. (Upper Canada College), Eric Jackson of Vancouver (Brentwood College School), and Tyler Young of St. John's, Nfld. (St John's Rowing Club).