Canada's Under-23 rowers picked up two medals today at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships on Amsterdam's Bosbaan regatta course.
Canada's men's eight won bronze in 5:54.67 in an exciting final that saw Romania and Italy finish first and second respectively.
The Canadian eight was still in fifth place at the 1500-metre mark. "During the race I didn't think we were going to medal, but in the last 500 we really moved up to edge out Germany," said crew member Chris Aylard, who missed out on a medal in the Junior Worlds mens four last year after being beaten by a German crew. "It's not over until you cross the line." A record number of 15 countries were entered in this event.
Members of the U23 eight are Blake Pucsek of Victoria, B.C., James Grossmith of Victoria, B.C., Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Ont., Christopher Aylard of Sidney, B.C., Derek O'Farrell of Unionville, Ont., Robert Thomson of Ottawa, Ont., Jeffrey McGuffin of Thorndale, Ont., Darryl de Leeuw of Victoria, B.C. and Mark Laidlaw (cox) of Mississauga, Ont.
The lightweight men's double of Morgan Jarvis of Winnipeg, Man. and John Haver of Saskatoon, Sask. also picked up bronze today - a repeat of their placing last year.
"We basically followed our race plan - we had a solid start and gave it our best shot," said Jarvis, who will now return to Canada to try out for the senior World Championship team.
Melanie Abbott of Brampton, Ont., Kerry Maher of Welland, Ont., and Larissa Lagzdins of Burlington, Ont. and Lauren Wells of London, Ont. were fourth in the women's four event in 7:31.01. Canada started off at the head of the field and the United States began the race at the back. However, as the race progressed, the U.S. boat worked its way through the others to win gold in 7:24.29. France and Belarus also picked up medals in this event.
The women's pair of Stephanie Morrison of Nelson, B.C. and Stephanie Connolly of Victoria, B.C. finished sixth in 8:22.38. Romania, Germany and Great Britain picked up medals in this event.
The standards are very high here, said Rowing Canada development coach Terry Paul, who will now head to Germany for the Junior Worlds (Aug. 3 to 6). Im very proud of the way our crews rowed and handled the sometimes tough conditions.
The Canadian lightweight men's four - Terry McKall of Edmonton, Alta., Derek Gosling of Cobble Hill, B.C., Brendan Hodge of Delta, B.C. and Simon Gowdy of Montreal, Que. - won its B final, to finish seventh overall. The U.S. crew took the lead in this race, but Canada came back at approximately the 1,200 metre mark and took the lead, with the United States slipping to second. The two North American crews were ahead at the finish with Australia in third well back.
In the lightweight women's single, Gwen McLennan was second to Denmark, and the B.C. native finishes eighth overall in her first international final.
The men's pair of Aubrey Oldham and Alan Oldham of Hamilton, Ont. also finishes eighth overall after todays B final race.
The Canadian women's double (Kara Farquharson of Mississauga, Ont. and Emma Darling of Vancouver, B.C.) won its C final yesterday, finishing 13th overall.
July 24, 2005 Canadian Results - finals
2000 metres
Women's four
USA 7:24.29
FRA 7:26.20
BLR 7:27.19
CAN 7:31.01
GBR 7:36.85
AUS 7:37.93
Lightweight men's double
CZE 6:56.38
POR 6:58.21
CAN 7:00.70
GER 7:01.25
NED 7:03.93
HKG 7:13.06
Women's pair
ROM 8:02.47
GER 8:03.64
GBR 8:08.48
RUS 8:12.44
FRA 8:13.27
CAN 8:22.38
Men's eight
ROM 5:50.90
ITA 5:51.82
CAN 5:54.67
GER 5:55.05
CZE 6:00.11
UKR 6:02.37
B FINALS (FOR PLACES 7 TO 12)
Lightweight men's four
CAN 6:38.74
USA 6:40.75
AUS 6:46.29
ESP 6:50.43
AUT 6:51.59
CZE 6:56.72
Men's pair
ARG 7:14.49
CAN 7:15.80
SCG 7:16.27
RUS 7:18.44
TUR 7:18.78
LTU 7:27.33
Lightweight women's single
DEN 8:29.14
CAN 8:32.58
FRA 8:35.79
ITA 8:40.44
SLO 8:42.22
HKG 8:45.57