Canada won two medals today - gold and bronze - at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan.
Canada's new golden crew - Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont., Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S. Elizabeth Urbach of Carp, Ont., Melanie Kok of St. Catharines, Ont. - dominated their race today in the lightweight women's quad event.
Canada won in 6:19.87, followed by Denmark, who gave Canada a late challenge, in 6:20.69, with Great Britain picking up a bronze in 6:22.49. France, The Netherlands and Japan followed.
"Our goal was to get out in front and stay there," said Liz Urbach, who now lives in Vancouver. "It felt great to empty out all the 364 days of hard work that led up to today."
Tracy Cameron said: "We had the lead again off the start, but it didn't feel as safe this time (as in the heat). The Danes had a go for it at the end, but it was too late."
"We took a lead from the start and it was only by a small margin at the beginning," said Melanie Kok, rowing in her first World Championships. "But we were really solid through the middle and we held onto that lead for a good finish even when we were challenged by the Danes."
"I was really impressed by the way they rowed," said their coach, Laryssa Biesenthal, a former Olympic rower. "They held their composure, stayed on task and took it one stroke at a time. This is a great stepping stone two years and 11 months out of an Olympics, and the hope is that this speed will be transferred into the double (the only Olympic event open to lightweight women)."
Mara Jones is the only crew member with Olympic experience - she rowed with Fiona Milne in 2004 in the lightweight double, but didn't reach the podium. "My hopes and aspirations are still to be in the double, but we all did a good job of wrapping our heads around the quad, and we were all committed to going as hard as possible."
The lightweight men's quad settled for a bronze in 5:47.86. Italy won this event in 5:44.76 and Belgium took silver in 5:46.00.
"It was a bit rough technically," said crew member Doug Vandor, right after today's race. "Our start wasn't that bad, but the race was not as clean as we could have been."
Vandor rowed with Jeff Bujas of Grimsby, Ont., Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont., and Morgan Jarvis of Winnipeg, Man., who are coached by former National Team coxswain, Pat Newman.
"Our goal was to win, so coming third is a bittersweet for this crew," said coach Newman. "It was a very competitive field and I told them that a bronze medal is still something to be very proud of."
The Canadian men's coxed four of Todd Keesey of Saskatoon, Sask., Daniel Casaca of Toronto, Ont., Ryan Slate of Kingston, Ont., Dan O'Shaughnessy of Brockville, Ont., Stephen Cheng of Toronto, Ont. were fourth, after holding third for most of the course.
"We were focused on the two crews that were ahead of us and lost sight of who was behind us. The Germans just snuck up on us in the last 10 strokes," said cox Stephen Cheng. "It's a tough result to take, but we're a young crew and it was a valuable experience for all of us. It will make us hungrier for next time."
France won the event in 6:02.42, followed by the U.S. in 6:03.44, Germany in 6:06.01, and Canada in 6:07.14. Italy (6:14.12) and Japan (6:18.98) finished off the pace.
The Canadian men's eight won the B final today in 5:29.52 to finish seventh overall.
"Our goal today was to win the B final. It's a different type of pressure than when you are going for the medals, which is what we are used to," said Kevin Light, who has been in the eight since 2001. "They way we raced today gave me confidence to know that power and rhythm is the way to row, not scampering and being afraid to lose. We never gave up on each other."
The U.S., Olympic gold medallists in 2004, won the gold in the men's eight today in 5:22.75. Australia won the women's eight, and finished first in medal standings, followed by New Zealand and Great Britain. Canada finished 11th in the medal standings or ninth in total medals.