13 Dec 2011
Olympic placing battle starts at Canada’s National Champs
Canada qualified seven boats for next year’s Olympics at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia in September. Now rowers have to battle it out to be selected for those boats with this regatta determining who would be invited to the Olympic training camp.
The national championships were held in Welland, Ontario and a strong tail wind with choppy water were the racing conditions for the finals day.
The lightweight women’s double sculls is one of the Olympic qualified boats for Canada and three rowers are in the running for the two positions. Last year Lindsay Jennerich and Tracy Cameron became World Champions in the event. The duo then prepared to defend their title this year at Bled. An eleventh hour injury for Cameron forced her out of the boat and Patricia Obee took Cameron’s place. Jennerich and Obee raced to a commendable second at Bled. These three athletes raced in the lightweight single with 20-year-old Obee winning. Jennerich was second and Cameron came in third.
Obee said in Rowing Canada’s press release, "Any result would have been pretty motivating to train harder, but this helps to know I'm training correctly and moving in the right direction."
At the World Rowing Championships Morgan Jarvis raced in the non-Olympic event, the lightweight men’s pair, but at these national championships he won the lightweight men’s single ahead of Cameron Sylvester. Sylvester, with 2008 Olympic partner Douglas Vandor, qualified the lightweight double for the Olympics at Bled. This will put Jarvis in a good position to work towards a spot in the lightweight double.
Leading the way in the women’s pair was Darcy Marquardt and Andreanne Morin. Marquardt and Morin were the stroke pair in the women’s eight that finished second at Bled. Morin told Rowing Canada, "It's nice to win the gold for myself, but I think it's also very encouraging for the team as a whole to have close times." Less than two seconds back were Janine Hanson and Lauren Wilkinson.
Hanson was also part of the silver medal eight while Wilkinson became an Under-23 Champion this year as part of Canada’s under-23 eight. Canada did not qualify the women’s pair for the Olympics, so will have a final chance in May 2012.
The men’s pair was won by Scott Frandsen and David Calder who were the 2008 Olympic silver medallists in this event. The duo only came back together this season and they finished fifth at the World Rowing Championships. Second went to Gabriel Bergen and Will Crothers who both raced in the men’s eight at Bled. The eight qualified for the 2012 Olympics with a third-place finish. Third place, Andrew Byrnes and Jeremiah Brown, were also in the eight.