A young Canadian boat proved it belongs among the best in the World today winning a silver medal on the final day of the World Rowing Championships in Eton, England.
"This is a sum of the whole summer," said Chris Aylard of Victoria, B.C., just before picking up his medal. The rowers in the coxed four - with the exception of coxswain Stephen Cheng of Toronto, Ont. - all were members of the gold-medal-winning Under 23 men's eight in Belgium earlier this summer.
"It's almost difficult for them to accept today's result because they know what it's like to win," said Terry Paul, Rowing Canada's development coach who coached both the Under 23 men's eight and this coxed four. That's promising because it means they'll want more.
"Once you've had gold, it's hard to go back," said Will Crothers of Kingston, Ont., who has quickly risen through the ranks of National Team development program.
"Rowing at the Junior and Under-23 Worlds was great development for me - it prepared me mentally and I've become a more mature racer because of those experiences. I know not to be distracted when other crews make a move. I just stay relaxed and row my own race." Germany won in 6:05.77, with Canada crossing the 2000-metre mark at 6:06.47, followed by New Zealand in 6:07.37.
Aylard, Crothers and crew mates Rob Gibson of Kingston, Ont. and Max Lang of Lumby, B.C. all rowed for University of Washington this year.
Otherwise it was a day of close calls for Canada's top lightweight rowers in two Olympic-class events. The lightweight men's four and lightweight women's double both finished fourth today.
Liam Parsons of Thunder Bay, Ont. John Sasi of North Delta, B.C., Mike Lewis of Victoria, B.C. and Iain Brambell of Victoria had a time of 5:53.13. China was first in 5:49.43, followed closely by France in 5:51.26 and Ireland in 5:51.35.
"The level of competition is high, so there's not much room for error," said Sasi. "We could have had a better start, we know that we are capable of putting together a better race."
Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont. and Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S. were also fourth. China's lightweight women's double picked up gold in 6:55.12, following by Australia in 6:56.57, and a late-surging Greek crew, who were still in fifth at the 1500m mark, picked up bronze in 6:57.14. Canada crossed the line in 6:58.23.
Canada's women's eight was fifth overall today in a time of 6:03.32. Members of the eight are Sarah Bonikowsky of Orangeville, Ont., Sabrina Kolker of West Vancouver, B.C., Heather Mandoli of Kelowna, B.C., Andreanne Morin of Montreal, Que., Romina Stefancic of Victoria, B.C., Kaylan Vander Schilden of Victoria, B.C., Katie Reynolds of St. John, N.B., Ashley Brzozowicz of Toronto, Ont. and (coxswain) Lesley Thompson-Willie of London, Ont. The U.S. won gold in the women's eight.
The lightweight women's quad was sixth in 6:46.38. Members of this boat are Jennifer Hogsden of Waterdown, Ont., Amber Cuthbertson of Harrowsmith, Ont., Sheryl Preston of North Delta, B.C., and Melanie Kok of St. Catharines, Ont. Kok was a member of the 2005 World gold-medal lightweight quad with different crewmates.
Canada's men's eight finished third in its B final to finish ninth overall. Russia and Switzerland finished ahead of Canada in this race. Germany won gold in the men's eight later this afternoon.
The women's quad was second in its B final or eighth overall. Ukraine won this two-boat race.
The lightweight men's double was sixth in this morning's B final and places 12th at this Worlds.
"At the end of the second year of the four-year build-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Canadian Rowing Team has established a firm base in five Olympic events and we are encouraged by our possibilities in three more," said Rowing Canada Aviron High Performance Director Alan Roaf. "The team will be putting on a big push in 2007, and I'm eager to see our training resume soon after we return to Canada."
Canada won a total of six medals - including the two adaptive rowing bronze medals earned today. To the delight of more than 40,000 rowing fans this week, Great Britain tops the 2006 World Rowing Championships medal table with a total of four gold medals, one silver and three bronze. From the total of 81 medals awarded during these championships, Great Britain took away eight spots on the podiums, three of which were achieved today in adaptive racing. FISA, the international rowing body, counts medals on the same basis as for the Olympic Games by prioritizing the number of gold medals. Germany won the overall medal race, with 11 medals (three gold, seven silver and one bronze) followed by Great Britain with eight medals. See www.worldrowing.com for more details.
Adaptive National Team summary to follow.
Aug. 27, 2006
Canadian Results Finals (2000m)
World Rowing Championships
Lightweight men's double - B final
1 JPN 6:14.12
2 GBR 6:15.80
3 GRE 6:17.06
4 HUN 6:18.00
5 AUT 6:20.26
6 CAN 6:25.00
Women's quad - B final
1 UKR 6:24.65
2 CAN 6:26.75
Men's eight - B final
1 RUS 5:35.90
2 SUI 5:36.68
3 CAN 5:37.57
4 FRA 5:38.07
5 CHN 5:39.46
6 ROM 5:45.86
Men's coxed four
1 GER 6:05.77
2 CAN 6:06.47
3 NZL 6:07.37
4 USA 6:07.60
5 GBR 6:07.98
6 ITA 6:13.45
Lightweight women's quad
1 CHN 6:23.96
2 DEN 6:28.16
3 GBR 6:30.02
4 GER 6:39.23
5 USA 6:40.86
6 CAN 6:46.38
Lightweight women's double
1 CHN 6:55.12
2 AUS 6:56.57
3 GRE 6:57.14
4 CAN 6:58.23
5 GBR 7:00.82
6 FIN 7:03.42
Lightweight men's four
1 CHN 5:49.43
2 FRA 5:51.26
3 IRL 5:51.35
4 CAN 5:53.13
5 GBR 5:58.02
6 AUS 5:58.80
Women's eight
1 USA 5:55.50
2 GER 5:57.29
3 AUS 6:00.29
4 CHN 6:01.01
5 CAN 6:03.32
6 ROM 6:08.23