The Canadian men's eight regained some of its glory today with a big win at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
The men took charge of their race, winning in 5:34.92; Germany and Great Britain followed in 5:37.19 and 5:37.95 respectively.
"It's just great to be back," said Kyle Hamilton, who was in the eight when it won the World Championships in 2002 and 2003. "We've had a few off years. We wanted to go out there and not just win by a bowball, but to prove that we are the best in the world. We established a lead and then just cruised to the finish. All the gold medals are special, but I appreciate this one just a bit more." The men's eight secured a spot at next year's Olympics just by being in the A final.
The eight's members are Hamilton of Richmond, B.C., Adam Kreek of London, Ont., Dominic Seiterle of Victoria, B.C., Malcolm Howard of Victoria, B.C., Jake Wetzel of Saskatoon, Sask., Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Ont., Ben Rutledge of Cranbrook, BC, Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C., and (coxswain) Brian Price of Belleville, Ont. It was Brian Price's second medal of this regatta - he picked up a bronze in the coxed pair yesterday.
The women's eight didn't fare as well. They were sixth overall, missing out on an Olympic berth (the boat had to be top five in this event.) The women's eight time was 6:23.10.
"It was a good fight and we gave it our all, but we couldn't maintain the pace," said Heather Mandoli. "It's a shock to come sixth.... We're motivated and determined to qualify next year, using the lessons learned here." There is another chance to qualify boats in Lucerne next June.
The eight consists of Heather Mandoli of Kelowna, B.C., Ashley Brzozowicz of Toronto, Ont., Kaylan Vander Schilden of Victoria, Sabrina Kolker of West Vancouver, B.C., Romina Stefancic of Victoria, Katie Reynolds of St. John, NB, Buffy Williams of St. Catharines, Ont., Sarah Bonikowsky of Orangeville, Ont., and Lesley Thompson-Willie of London, Ont. (cox).
The Canadian lightweight men's four did qualify this boat for the Olympics, by finishing fourth in 6:18.92. In a tight race, Great Britain won in 6:16.21, France was second in 6:17.43, followed by Italy in 6:17.49. The light four is Liam Parsons of Thunder Bay, Ont., Mike Lewis of Victoria, B.C., Jon Beare of Toronto, Ont., and Iain Brambell of Victoria, B.C. The women's quad of Anna-Marie de Zwager of Victoria, B.C., Krista Guloien of Port Moody, B.C., Janine Hanson of Winnipeg, Man., and Rachelle de Jong of Regina, Sask. was fifth overall. The quad's time was 6:40.37. This boat qualified a spot in the Olympics.
Although the international rowing distance is 2000 metres, in many races it came down to just centimeters that decided the winners. That was the case in the B final of the lightweight women's double. Canada's entry was Lindsay Jennerich of Victoria, B.C. and Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S. and they finished first in the B final for seventh overall.
"I thought maybe we were third when we were around the last 250 metres, so we just went for it and didn't look back," said Jennerich, who has medaled in this event at 2007 World Cups and Under-23 Worlds in past years. "I had to look at the board to see the results. We race better when we keep the race internal, so I had no idea where we finished, but I knew it was close." Canada will have a space in this event in the Olympics.
The lightweight men's pair of John Sasi of North Delta, BC. and Terry McKall of Edmonton, AB. was third in a B final to finish ninth overall.
Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que. and Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. were sixth in the lightweight men's double final B, and finish 12th overall. Only the top 11 finishers in this event at the Worlds capture an Olympic berth.
The race was tight with Hungary, Germany, China, France, Austria and Canada all crossing the line within just over two seconds of each other.
Canada picked up four medals at these Worlds - the men's eight, lightweight women's single (bronze), coxed pair (bronzed) and the adaptive mixed coxed four (bronze). Canada qualified five boats for the Olympics at this regatta.