World Rowing Under 23 Championships - Final Day (July 26, 2009)

• Other reports - July 23, July 24 and July 25

Summary: Exciting row to bronze for U23 men's single

U23 men's single sculler Michael Braithwaite of Duncan, B.C., provided the highlight of the day for the Canadian team at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.

Germany won the U23 single in 7:00.35, the Netherlands was second in 7:02.31 and Canada crossed the line in 7:03.57, edging out Slovenia (7:03.85).

"I knew going into my final that it was going to be a tight race and I'm really happy that I was able to step up and execute," said Braithwaite. "All in all this was a great step in the right direction."

Not only was this the first medal internationally for the University of Toronto rower; it was his first major international regatta. "I'm very grateful for all the support that I received from my friends and family back home," he said today.

"Mike raced with a huge heart to seal the bronze medal," said Rowing Canada Aviron Director of High Performance Peter Cookson  Canada had three other boats in the A finals.  "For our other finalists, it was a difficult day. On the day, we were just lacking that top-end speed to stay with the leaders. It was a good lesson for us."

The Canadian men's four, a boat of experienced rowers who nailed their preliminary races, was fourth despite a strong start.  New Zealand won in 5:54.49, the U.S. picked up silver (5:55.80), and Germany followed in 5:56.22, just ahead of Canada in 5:56.49. Romania and Slovenia rounded out the field, but were not part of the medal contest.

The Canadian U23 men's four is Will Crothers (Kingston, ON), Anthony Jacob (Vancouver, B.C), Max Lang (Lumby, BC), and Conlin McCabe (Brockville, ON).

The U23 women's eight was also fourth overall - medal winners were Great Britain in 6:20.71; the U.S. in 6:21.80 and Poland (6:23.16).  Canada followed in 6:28.67.

The U23 women's eight is Rosie deBoef (Victoria, BC), Ashton Brown (Calgary, AB), Lauren Hutchins (North Vancouver, B.C.), Kim Kennedy (Calgary, AB), Natalie Mastracci (Thorold, ON), Kira O'Sullivan (Victoria B.C.), Caitlin Trumble (Calgary, AB/Perth, Australia), Lauren Wilkinson (Vancouver, B.C.) and Kristen Kit (coxswain) of St. Catharines, Ont. 

The Canadian U23 men's eight was fifth in 5:37.74. Poland won in 5:32.77, Germany got the silver in 5:34.11 and Great Britain was third in 5:35.25 in this event.  Last year, Canada picked up a silver the U23 eight.

The 2009 U23 eight is Richard Anderson (Victoria, B.C.), Spencer Crowley (Lantzville, B.C.), Stephen Connolly (Calgary, Alberta), Will Dean (Kelowna, B.C.), Matt Evans (London, UK), Josh Morris (Victoria, B.C.), Blake Parsons (Toronto, ON), Geoff Roth (Edmonton, AB), and cox Ronan Sabo-Walsh (Vancouver, B.C).

In the B finals, the lightweight women's double (Kathryn Twyman of Edmonton, Alta., and Rebecca Gregory of Brampton, Ont.) was third in 7:28.65 to end up ninth overall.

The lightweight women's single (Ricki Baxter of Burnaby, B.C.) was also ninth overall after coming third in the B final in 8:07.35.

Canada was fifth in the lightweight men's four B final in 6:09.82 - ranking 11th overall. This boat included Rares Crisan (Mississauga Ont.), Travis King (Grimsby, Ont.), Ryan Meyers (Kingston Ont.), and Jeff Overington (Kingston Ont.).

Read more about this event at: http://www.worldrowing.com/

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media contact: Jackie Skender - Rowing Canada Aviron

World Rowing Under 23 Championships - Day Three

Summary: Heavyweight men's four and single, and women's eight advance today

Canada's team at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, showed strength in large and small boats on the third day of the regatta.

The U23 men's four of Will Crothers (Kingston, ON), Anthony Jacob (Vancouver, B.C), Max Lang (Lumby, BC), and Conlin McCabe (Brockville, ON) won their semi in 6:02.14. They will face New Zealand, Germany, the U.S., Romania and Slovenia in tomorrow's fight for medals in this event.

"The guys planned on stepping on the gas at 750 (metres) and split the field. That's exactly what they did and they coasted in the last 1000 metres," said men's development coach Terry Paul. "The Kiwis (who won the other semi in 5:59.38) look like they are the real deal so the boys are looking forward to going for it in the final." 

The Canadian U23 women's eight won the rep today, leading all the way down the course to finish in 6:18.53 and proceed to the final tomorrow. Canada, Poland, Germany and Belarus qualified for the final from this rep, which was delayed by a day due to storm damage of some boats.

"The women's eight had a strong race today and have put themselves in a good position for tomorrow's final,” said women’s U23 coach Michelle Darvill. “All crews have stepped up their game and the women are ready for a tight race."

The U23 women's eight is Rosie deBoef (Victoria, BC), Ashton Brown (Calgary, AB), Lauren Hutchins (North Vancouver, B.C.), Kim Kennedy (Calgary, AB), Natalie Mastracci (Thorold, ON), Kira O'Sullivan (Victoria B.C.), Caitlin Trumble (Calgary, AB/Perth, Australia), Lauren Wilkinson (Vancouver, B.C.) and Kristen Kit (coxswain) of St. Catharines, Ont. 

In an exciting men's single semi, Lithuania (6:55.67), Bulgaria (6:56.09) and Canada's Michael Braithwaite qualified for the final. The Canadian sculler came from behind to finish in 6:56.40, edging out the Argentinean who had been leading for most of the race, but then fell to fourth in 6:58.08 - only the top three in the semi move to the finals.  Braithwaite is a Duncan, B.C., native who also rowed for the University of Toronto.

"It was a really gutsy performance by Mike," said Rowing Canada Aviron’s Director of High Performance Peter Cookson. 

Although she got a fast start, Canada's Ricki Baxter of Burnaby, B.C., finished fourth (7:49.29) in the semi-final and will row in a B final.  Great Britain, Belarus and Austria advanced.

The U23 lightweight men's four faced the same fate - finishing fourth in the semi in 6:09.46 and moving to the B final that determines places seven to 12.  Spain won this semi in 6:04.49. The Canadian U23 lightweight men's four is Rares Crisan (Mississauga Ont.), Travis King (Grimsby, Ont.), Ryan Meyers (Kingston Ont.), and Jeff Overington (Kingston Ont.).

The lightweight women's double of Kathryn Twyman of Edmonton, Alta., and Rebecca Gregory of Brampton, Ont. finished fifth in the semi in 7:26.08 and move to the B final of this event.

The Canadian women's pair (Sarah Black of Ottawa, Ont. and Erika Shaw of Victoria, B.C.) had the fastest time in the B final (7:42.68) to finish seventh overall.

Canada has four crews in the finals - men's eight, women's eight, men's four, and men's single.

The final day of racing is Sunday, July 26.
www.worldrowing.com has full results and reports.

World Rowing Under 23 Championships - Day Two

Summary: Three Canadian boats advance after reps; women's eight postponed

The World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, continued today despite a storm on Thursday afternoon that saw many boats destroyed and other damage at rowing course.

Two races, including the women's eight rep that Canada is entered in, were re-scheduled for Saturday due to damage to a number of the boats stored on site that were to be in races today. Canadian boats were not damaged, and the Canadian team was at its hotel when the storm occurred.

In reps today, Canada's lightweight men's four was second in 6:04.21 and advance (top two) to the semi final. The Hungarian boat won this rep in 6:03.59, just edging out the Canadians.  All races are 2000m.

“The guys got off to a better start today (than in the heat) and maintained pretty good speed throughout the middle of the race," said their coach Pat Newman. "We will need to push harder through the bottom 750m to qualify in what will be a very competitive semi-final."

The U23 lightweight men's four is Rares Crisan (Mississauga Ont.), Travis King (Grimsby, Ont.), Ryan Meyers (Kingston Ont.), and Jeff Overington (Kingston Ont.)

The lightweight women's double of Kathryn Twyman of Edmonton, Alta., and Rebecca Gregory of Brampton, Ont. was also second (7:17.40) and advance with the top three from their rep.  Sweden won the rep in 7:12.94.  They will race in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Also advancing is Michael Braithwaite of Duncan, B.C. - the Canadian entry in the U23 men's single – who came back from a mediocre start to finish his rep in a time of 7:04.08. The top two advanced to the semi-final from this race, with the Latvian sculler, Dairis Adamaitis, winning this rep in 7:02.30.

The women's pair of Sarah Black of Ottawa, Ont. and Erika Shaw of Victoria, B.C.  had a good start to their rep, but dropped to fourth and move to the B final, which determines places seven to 12. Their time today was 7:40.68.

Yesterday, both the men’s eight and four from Canada won their heats and therefore skipped the repechage round of racing.

World Rowing Under 23 Championships - Day One

Summary: Canadian Under 23 Men Looking Strong in Heats

The World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, began today with more than 60 races to be completed on this first day of the event (July 23 to 26, 2009).

The Canadian Under 23 men's eight won today's heat in 5:47.45; Great Britain also qualified for the final posting a time of 5:49.53 – the top two finishers from each heat in this event move directly to the final.  Germany and Poland advanced as a result of the other men’s eight heat.

The U23 eight is Richard Anderson (Victoria, B.C.), Spencer Crowley (Lantzville, B.C.), Stephen Connolly (Calgary, Alberta), Will Dean (Kelowna, B.C.), Matt Evans (London, UK), Josh Morris (Victoria, B.C.), Blake Parsons (Toronto, ON), Geoff Roth (Edmonton, AB), and cox Ronan Sabo-Walsh (Vancouver, B.C).

"The men raced well," said Rowing Canada men's development coach, Terry Paul. "They drew on the confidence they have from the training they have done alongside the senior team men in Victoria. Their mission was to focus on their own race plan and see where that put them relative to the other crews. That strategy worked well, and both the four and eight have identified areas they can improve on."

The U23 men's four of Will Crothers (Kingston, ON), Anthony Jacob (Vancouver, B.C), Max Lang (Lumby, BC), and Conlin McCabe (Brockville, ON) won today's heat in 6:10.43. Although this is an Under-23 boat, the crew members are experienced rowing for Canada internationally and all four rowed for the University of Washington.

With the top two boats advancing to the semi, the U.S. crew that was second (6:13.03) to Canada also moves forward from this heat. Germany posted the fastest time of the three heats of this event today - 6:00.79.

The Canadian U23 women's eight was second in 6:44.92 in its heat - Great Britain won the race in 6:39.70 and advance directly to the final. The Canadian women race again tomorrow in their bid to make the final.

The U23 women's eight is Rosie DeBoef (Victoria, BC), Ashton Brown (Calgary, AB), Lauren Hutchins (North Vancouver, B.C.), Kim Kennedy (Calgary, AB), Natalie Mastracci (Thorold, ON), Kira O'Sullivan (Victoria B.C.), Caitlin Trumble (Calgary AB/Perth, Australia), Lauren Wilkinson (Vancouver, B.C.) and Kristen Kit (coxswain) of St. Catharines, Ont.

With the top two advancing to the semi-final, Canada's Ricki Baxter was second in her lightweight women's single heat in 8:23.57. Germany’s Helke Nieschlag, who raced in a senior event (lwt. quad) winning gold in Lucerne at a World Cup earlier this month, had a decisive win in this race in 8:14.02.

The U23 lightweight men's four of Rares Crisan (Mississauga Ont.), Travis King (Grimsby, Ont.), Ryan Meyers (Kingston Ont.), and Jeff Overington (Kingston Ont.) was third in today’s heat in 6:16.43 and will row in a repechage race.

Michael Braithwaite of Duncan, B.C. was fourth in the U23 men's single in 7:31.72 and will row in a repechage race tomorrow in order to advance.

The U23 women's pair of Sarah Black of Ottawa, Ont. and Erika Shaw of Victoria, B.C. was third in 7:57.59 and are looking ahead to the rep to advance.

The U23 lightweight women's double (Kathryn Twyman of Edmonton, AB and Rebecca Gregory of Brampton, Ont.) was fifth in the heat in 7:50.47, and row in a repechage.

Originally, Canada had entered a lightweight women's quad, however, due to an injury, the entries were made in the lightweight single and double events.


Full results of the World Under 23s can be found here:

www.worldrowing.com