The Canadian men's eight opened its week at the 2003 Rowing World Championships in Milan, Italy, with a win in today's heat to advance directly to the semi-finals.
"This sets us up well for the regatta. Anything less than winning now would be a disappointment," said Andrew Hoskins, who was also part of last year’s crew that won gold at the Worlds. "It gives us the edge and everyone else has to play into our game plan."
Despite a malfunction of the electronic start system, the men had a strong beginning to their race and dominated the whole way down the course. "We practice starts quite often, so we are prepared," said men's eight coxswain, Brian Price. "We were expecting Croatia to be out with us at the start, but instead it was Great Britain and the Czech Republic."
Great Britain ended up second and Croatia third, but only the first crew advanced to the semi-final. Canada's time was 5:43.07. The U.S. and Germany won the other two heats to also advance to the semi-finals.
Canadian crew members are Joe Stankevicius of Dundas, Ont., Kevin Light of Sidney, B.C., Ben Rutledge of Cranbrook, B.C., Kyle Hamilton of Richmond, B.C., Dave Calder of Victoria, B.C., Andrew Hoskins of Edmonton, Alta., Adam Kreek of London, Ont., Jeff Powell of Winnipeg, Man. and Brian Price of Belleville, Ont..
Canada's women's eight finished third in its heat behind powerhouse Romania, who was first, and second-place Germany. Canada's time was 6:22.82, and they will have to row in the repechage in order to advance to the finals. The top five women's eights at this regatta will qualify for the Olympics.
The women’s eight members are Jacqui Cook of Burlington, Ont., Karen Clark of Delta, B.C., Rachel Dunnet of West Vancouver, B.C., Andreanne Morin of Montreal, Que., Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, B.C., Pauline Van Roessel of Bow Island, Alta., Roslyn McLeod of Burlington, Ont., Buffy Williams of St. Catharines, Ont. and Sarah Pape of Toronto, Ont. (cox).
In another Olympic event - the lightweight men's four - Canada's crew had a rocky start (in rowing terms, they “caught a crab”) and wasn't able to show its typical strength.
"We did comeback, but didn't really push as hard as we should have in the last 1000 metres to be able to win the heat." said Gavin Hassett, a veteran of two Olympics. "It means we now have one more race tomorrow (for a chance to advance)."
The lightweight men's four won a bronze at last year's Worlds and a silver at the 2003 Lucerne World Cup, so expectations are high.
"It's a bit of a surprise for this crew to be in this situation," said Canadian lightweight coach Terry Paul. "They need to come together and put it right for tomorrow's repechage." The crew is Hassett, who lives in Victoria, B.C., along with Jon Mandick also of Victoria, Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que., and Jon Beare of Toronto.
The lightweight men’s pair of Iain Brambell of Brentwood Bay, B.C. and Chris Davidson of Oakville, Ont., who both won medals at the recent Pan Am Games, looked solid and finished second in this morning’s heat in a time of 6:49.03. They will also row in a repechage to advance.
The lightweight women's double and the lightweight men's double both finished third in their preliminary heats.
Shona McLaren of Victoria, B.C. and Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont. must row in the repechage to advance. "We assessed where we were at the 1500-metre mark and knew we had to row smart in order to save something for the repechage tomorrow. We are rowing well, we just have to find our groove," said McLaren.
The lightweight men's double of Jeff Bujas of Grimsby, Ont. and Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. are in a similar situation.
"Our coaches prepared us well for the level of competition," said Bujas, who is rowing with Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. - both at their first Worlds. "Today's race was solid, but we know we need to be faster."