The 2009 World Rowing Championships - the highlight of the international rowing season - kicked off today on Malta Lake in Poznan, Poland. Canada had entries in two heats with a lot more action to come tomorrow and beyond.
The men's pair of Dan Casaca of Toronto, Ont. and Max Lang of Lumby, B.C. move of the semi-finals after finishing third in today's heat in 6:42.16.
Leading all the way down the course were Eric Murray and Hamish Bond of New Zealand - winning decisively in 6:31.29. The Kiwis were followed by Shaun Keeling and Ramon DiClemente of South Africa, just ahead of the Canadians in 6:40.16.
"The guys were nervous about their first race as a pair," said coach Terry Paul. "After a clean start, they found good rhythm for the first 1000 metres (of 2000). They had some difficulty with their steering in the second half, but were generally encouraged by this morning's piece."
In the men's coxed pair, Canada was also third, but moves to the rep, with only the first-place finisher (Czech Republic in 7:06.34 in this heat) going directly to the final.
Jan Tize of West Vancouver, B.C., Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont. and cox Mark Laidlaw of Mississauga, Ont. finished in a time of 7:10.62. Canada has been strong in this event in recent history, including a World Championship gold in 2008 with Laidlaw serving as coxswain.
It was a relatively light day today for Canadian rowing, with much more action tomorrow, including the adaptive coxed four, the lightweight women's double, the lightweight men's double, the lightweight men's four, the women's eight and men's eight.
Canada has a total of 10 crews here at the Worlds, which run until Sunday, August 30.
Full team list, with home clubs: http://www.rowingcanada.org/national_team/team_worlds_09/