CanAmMex Events at U.S. Club Nationals

Melton Lake, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

 

Updates courtesy of John Ruscitti, Brian Carr and Alan Oldham.
Times and daily results can be found at:

  • Canadian team list (with home clubs) is here (pdf)

 

Day Five - July 19 (previous updates - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4)


On the final day of racing at the U.S. Club Nationals Rowing Championships/CanAmMex, Canada had five boats competing in the finals and came out with a silver medal!
 
The Junior Men’s 2x of Dan Corso and Russell McKean earned a silver medal by nipping out Crescent Boat Club at the finish line. The race was won by Steel City of Pittsburgh, with the stroke of that boat (Matthew Maddamma) heading off to the World Junior Championships in France at the beginning of August to race the single. He will be joined there by the Canadian Men’s Junior Coxed Four currently training in Victoria.
 
The Canadian double had a strong start and the three medal boats established some open water between them and the rest of the field around the 500m mark. Steel City made a move here to open up some water on Crescent BC and Canada with Crescent maintaining a slight lead over Canada through to the 1500m mark. It was a mad dash to the finish with the Canadian double inching ahead of Crescent in the final few strokes to take the silver.
 
"Dan and Russell did a really good job of keeping their composure throughout the race and showed steady progress in their racing skills during the regatta. It was nice to see them beat Crescent as it was the first time they did this through the heats and semi-finals, which was a good step for the boys," commented Junior Team Leader John Ruscitti.
 
While the silver was the only medal on the day for Canada, the lightweight men’s pair of Blake Pinell and John Zucchi posted a fourth-place finish in the Intermediate Lightweight pair final. The Canadian pair raced as an exhibition boat in the final as the weight class called for a 160lb max and a 155 lb average. Blake and John were at the max but above the average. The boys were fighting throughout the race with a tightly bunched group that was jostling for the bronze medal with the gold and silver medalists fighting ahead of the field for the prize. The Canadian pair managed to poke their nose out about midway but were narrowly beaten at the end by 0.14 ending up in fourth place.  The race  provided for some excellent small boat dueling!
 
Other Canadian finishes on the day included 6th place finishes in the Junior Men’s 8, Intermediate Women’s 2x and Junior Women’s 4+. Many of these event included U.S. development boats providing highly competitive racing.
 
All in all CanAmMex 2009 was a highly successful development event for Canadian Junior rowers and coaches. This was the first time CanAmMex was fully integrated into a large scale regatta which provided excellent racing and learning opportunities. Canadian Junior rowers improved with each day. "We came down here as strangers to each other and after several days of rowing and racing together we left as a team. It was really fun to see the individual and team growth over the week," remarked Men’s Coach Brian Carr. Women’s Coach Alan Oldham added : "it was also a great learning opportunity for the coaches. We were kept hopping most of the time but it was a very satisfying introduction to development work."
 
Canada finished the regatta with two golds, two silvers, and two bronze medals. Most rowers and coaches now return to their home clubs to prepare for racing at the Canadian Henley in St. Catharines during the first week of August.
 
A special thanks to the London Training Centre, Guelph RC, Brock, UWO and South Niagara RC for assistance with equipment and the generous support of the Canadian Team through use of their facilities. Thank you to Al Morrow, Aubrey Oldham and Pete Somerwil to their assistance with trailer loading. and logistics. Thanks to Brian Carr and Alan Oldham for generously donating their time and expertise as coaches for the athletes during their week in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. And finally a big thanks to the many rowing clubs that have helped to develop these athletes and continue to do so, and encouraged them to participate in the national team process and experience that followed!

Day four – Saturday, July 18

Team Canada's CanAmMex rowers ended their first day of finals at the USRowing Club Nationals with five medals to show from the seven crews who advanced into today's events.  Two gold, one silver, two bronze.

The Jr. Men's Quad of Dan Corso (stroke), Russel McKean, Trofym Anderson, and Brandon Griffin, Canada's first boat on the water this morning, were also the first to strike gold in a time of 6:29:20 with a length lead over Maritime Boat Club.  This crew raced technically well and easily established their position in first place.  Racing as internationals at a USRowing Championship meant that Maritime Boat Club officially won the gold, while the Canadian boys were awarded special gold USRowing medals to signify their placing.  The other Canadian medalists were similarly awarded USRowing medals in gold, silver, and bronze.

Anna Ionson won Canada's second gold medal in the team's final appearance of the day in the Jr. Women's Single.  Rating lower and rowing longer than her competition, Ionson was able to push away from the charging second place Austin Rowing Club sculler and maintain her lead.

Not to be outdone, the sweepers also performed well, with silver and bronze finishes for Team Canada's two Junior Men's Pairs in today's final.  Connor McGuigan (stroke) and Adam Galbraith finished second, half a length down on first place Boston Rowing Club and one length in front of team mates Trofym Anderson and Brandon Griffin, who settled for bronze.  This performance came under an hour after a bronze medal placing by Canada's  junior women's pair of Karen Donaldson (stroke) and Glen Hay.  Rebecca Thompson (stroke) and Marissa Thalen, racing in the same event, raced to a fifth place finish despite equipment failure.

Other finalist crews were the Jr. Women's Doubles of Anna Ionson (stroke) and Rebecca Staff, who placed fourth  and the Men's Jr. Fours with cox of Even Cheng, Sean Addison, Blake Pinell,  John Zucchi , and Ryan Sanders (cox) who placed sixth .
 
"All of the Canadian junior rowers have progressed as the week evolved, each day providing them with the opportunity to take strokes together after being together for only a few days. These young rowers have been representing Canada here at the US Club Nationals Regatta with pride and spirit, and have come together in a short span of time to earn medals in a variety of boat classes", commented Junior Team Leader John Ruscitti. 

Saturday's golds for boats in both the men's and women's teams has certainly galvanized the rowers to perform at their best during Sunday's racing.  The second and last day of finals will again see every member of CanAmMex Team Canada racing on the water.  Advancing out of the semi's into tomorrow's finals are the Intermediate Women's Doubles of Anna Ionson (stroke) and Rebecca Staff; the Jr. Women's Fours with Cox of Rebecca Thompson (stroke), Glen Hay, Karen Donaldson, Marissa Thalen, and Nikki Morrison (cox); the Jr. Men's Doubles of Dan Corso (stroke) and Russel McKean; the Intermediate Lightweight Men's Pairs of Blake Pinell (stroke) and John Zucchi; the Intermediate Men's Quads of Dan Corso (stroke), Russel McKean, Trofym Anderson, and Brandon Griffin; and the Jr. Men's Eights of Even Cheng (stroke), Sean Addison, Trofym Anderson, Brandon Griffin, Adam Galbraith, Connor McGuigan, Blake Pinell, John Zucchi, and Ryan Sanders (cox).

Day Three – Friday, July 17

The heats and semi finals are in the books at the USRowing Club National Championships. The Canadian Junior Development team is racing in 12 finals over the weekend. All 18 Canadian athletes will be involved in the racing over the weekend.

The day started off with Russell McKean in the Intermediate Lightweight single. He raced one of his best races of the weekend but came up short, placing 4th and did not advance to the final. Dan Corso raced in the Junior A Men’s Single and was in the hunt for a place in the final however, finishing 5th and not advancing to the final. Marissa Thalen and Rebecca Thompson in one Junior A Women’s pair and Karen Donaldson and Glenn Hay in the other Junior A Women’s pair both won their semi finals with the second and third fastest times of all the Junior A crews.
The Junior A Men’s 8+ were in a very tough semi final. The crew made up of Mark Addison, Trofym Anderson, Evan Cheng, Adam Galbraith, Brandon Griffin, Connor McGuigan, Blake Pinell, John Zucchi and cox Ryan Sanders, lead the race for the first 1500 meters before placing a comfortable 3rd place and qualified for the Sunday morning final. This is the fifth time this combination has rowed together and they made some great adjustments in the last two days.
 
Anna Ionson and Rebecca Staff raced in the Intermediate Women’s double semi final finishing 3rd and qualifying for Sunday’s final. These girls are racing against stiff competition from university, United States and Mexico junior development teams.

The Junior A Women’s coxed four raced in the second semi final of the day finishing third and qualifying for Sunday’s finals. The crew made up of Karen Donaldson, Glenn Hay, Marissa Thalen, Rebecca Thompson, and Nikki Morrison raced in the middle of the pack and surged at the end to qualify. This was a great performance for the girl’s team.
Russel McKean and Dan Corso went out to avenge their loss in the Intermediate double by racing in the front for most of the race in the Junior A Men’s double semi final. In the end with a close sprint to the finish, the Canadian crew finished second by one tenth of a second and qualified with the second fastest time in the event.

The next event was the Junior A Men’s pair. Canada put two entries in with Trofym Anderson and Brandon Griffin in the first flight and Adam Galbraith and Connor McGuigan in the second flight. Both crews raced out in front and won their respective semi finals. Anderson and Griffin posted the fastest time with 6:53 and McGuigan and Galbraith with the third fastest time at 7:06.

The last event of the day for the Canadian crews was the Men’s Intermediate quad. Racing thirty-five minutes after their pair race, Griffin and Anderson teamed up with Corso and McKean to place third and qualify for the finals on Sunday.
After the last race the entire Canadian team went down to Bar Knoxville, a night club owned by a masters rower from Oak Ridge Rowing Club. From 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm the Canadian, American and Mexican athletes had an opportunity to meet each other in a social setting, have a dinner and dance. New friendships were struck and the idea of the CanAmMex format of athletes from the three countries coming together remained intact.

Saturday the finals begin and we are hoping for some medal performances from our Canadian crews.

Day Two - July 16, 2009

Today was the second day of racing at the U.S Club Nationals Regatta which is also the host of CanAmMex. Canadian Juniors as a rule are racing up an age category but for certain events have been entered into their respective age categories if they still have age eligibility in that category beyond this year. The regatta provides a unique opportunity for Canadian Junior rowers who have qualified for CanAmMex from the National Junior Trials held in June to compete against collegiate and pre-elite US and Mexican rowers.
 
The Junior women had a strong day with two boats advancing to the finals and/or semis. The Junior Womens double of Anna Ionson and Rebecca Staff won their semi-final and advance to the final. They had the fastest qualifying time of the day for the Junior women's doubles. The Junior womens 4+ also won, crossing the finish line first in their heat and moving on to the semi-finals on Friday. The Junior Women's 4x finished third in a tight race in the Junior womens 4x narrowly missing the final qualifying spot for the final. Their respective heat featured the four fastest Junior womens 4x times of the day. The Intermediate Women's 4+, 2- and 1x did not advance from their heats and/or semis today.
 
For the men, Canada had several boats advance from today's heats and semis into the finals to be raced this weekend. Dan Corso finished second in a closely contested race to advance to the Junior Mens 1x . semi-finals on Friday. Russell McKean, Dan's partner in the Junior Mens 2x, also placed second today in the Intermediate Mens 1x to advance to the semis in this event also to be held on Friday. In addition to the sculling events, Canada advanced two sweep boats- The Junior Mens 8 and 4+ -into the next round with both boats finishing second in their semi-finals The Junior sweep events often feature development camp and pre-elite rowers that have been participating in U.S. development camps over the past few weeks. The Canadian Junior Men's 8 racing in the Intermediate Mens 8 heat did not advance into the semi-finals.
 
Racing continues on Friday with heats and semi-finals on tap as rowers attempt to advance to the weekend finals.

 

Day One - July 15, 2009

The Canadian Juniors began their first day of racing as part of the CanAmMex contingency at the U.S Club Nationals Regatta in Oakridge, Tennessee.
 
The Junior men's double of Dan Corso and Russell McKean opened the day for Canada by winning their heat in the Junior Men's double. The Junior Women's double raced in the Intermediate Women's 2x race and finished second to advance to the semi-finals on Thursday. Crew members are Anna Ionson and Rebecca Staff. This was followed up by the Junior Men's quad which finished second qualifying for the final as they nudged ahead of third place at the finish to take the final qualifying spot. All three boats in this race were within a half second of each other. Members of the Junior Quad are Dan Corso, Russell McKean, Trofym Anderson and Brandon Griffin.
 
The Junior women's coxed four of Rebecca Thompson, Glenn Hay, Karen Donaldson, Marissa Thalen and cox Nikki Morrison finished second in the Intermediate Women's 4+ heat to advance to the semi-finals on Thursday. The Junior women's double of Anna Ionson and Rebecca Staff finished second in the fastest heat of the day for the event and move on to the semi-finals. And in the final races of the day, after and a hour and a half weather delay, the Junior Men's coxed four of Evan Chang, Marc Addison, Blake Pinell, John Zucchi and Ryan Saunders came second to advance to the semi-finals as did Anna Ionson in the junior single after finishing second in the fastest heat of the day in this event.
 
The Intermediate men's double and the coxed four both finished outside of the qualifying spots in their respective heats and do not advance to the next round of racing.
 
All in all a good start for Canadian athletes as they quickly adapt to their new crews only having been assembled for the most part in the last two days as athletes gather at CanAmMex, coming from many different parts of the country. The Canadian Juniors competing at the U.S Club Nationals hope to build on their positive start today and push to get into the finals on the weekend.