Many of Canada's top rowers made a rare appearance racing on home soil this weekend at the 128th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ont.
Both Canada's men's and women's eights showcased their talent, winning the Championship events today.
The men won in 5:21.59 over 2000m, in tail-wind conditions on Martindale Pond. A Canadian lightweight men's eight was fourth in the same race in 5:33.01. The last time a National Team men's eight raced this course was at the 1999 World Championships.
"It was very exciting for us to get to race in Canada for the first time in 11 years," said Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist. "It was great to see so many Canadians out there supporting us." The men's team made the trip from their training centre in Victoria, B.C.
The men's eight is Mark Laidlaw (cox) of Mississauga, ON, Derek O'Farrell of Unionville, ON, Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, ON, Will Crothers of Kingston, ON, Rob Gibson of Kingston, Conlin McCabe of Brockville, ON, Anthony Jacob of Vancouver, BC, Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House, BC, and Steve Van Knotsenburg of Beamsville, ON.
The National Team women's eight won in 5:55.52 - a boat from the U.S. National program was second in 6:09.32.
The women's eight is Lesley Thompson-Willie of London, ON, Andreanne Morin of Montreal, QC, Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, BC, Ashley Brzozowicz of Toronto, Krista Guloien of Port Moody, B.C., Christy Nurse of Georgetown, ON, Janine Hanson of Winnipeg, MB, Rachelle De Jong of Regina, Sask. and Emma Darling of Burnaby, BC.
Women's eight crew members Ashley Brzozowicz and Krista Guloien also won the women's pair (6:53.83) with teammates Darcy Marquardt and Andreanne Morin in second place (6:56.88).
"This is one of the first regattas I competed at as a university rower, so it's really great to come back - there's a lot of memories," said Guloien, a 2008 Olympian who attended UBC.
Malcolm Howard of Victoria, rowing in the single, also wowed the crowd in Port Dalhousie today. He won his race in 6:49.28.
With the World Rowing Championships scheduled later than usual this year (Oct. 31 to Nov. 7) in New Zealand, the National Team crews were available to compete here in Canada this year.
Yesterday, the National Team lightweight women's quad beat their competition from the U.S. and Canada to win in 6:21.51 in fast conditions.
The quad for this race was Olympic medalist Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, NS., with Katya Herman of Sudbury, Ont., Sheryl Preston of North Delta, B.C. and Lindsay Jennerich of Victoria.
Also yesterday, Cameron and Jennerich mastered their lightweight women's double contest, winning in 7:05.47. The second-place crew, from the U.S., was nine seconds off the winning pace.
A U.S. crew won the women's double exhibition international event.
"It was a great weekend. We were honoured to race at Henley," said Rowing Canada Aviron High Performance Director Peter Cookson, who grew up in the St. Catharines area. "I'm happy with how our crews conducted themselves and with their performances here."
Full results are available at http://www.henleyregatta.ca/
Since the Canadian Henley settled in St. Catharines in 1903, it has grown to become the largest of its kind in North America. This year featured Canadian crews, as well as athletes from the U.S., Mexico, and Great Britain, among others.