Rowing Canada Aviron Announces World Cup 1 Team

Rowing Canada Aviron today officially announces its team for the World Cup to be held in Bled, Slovenia, from May 28 to 30, 2010.

Canada is sending nine crews to this first regatta of the Rowing World Cup circuit.

"The World Cup 1 team is a solid mixture of veteran talent with some new faces rounding out the group. Of the 19 athletes going to Bled, 12 were finalists at last year's World Championships," said Peter Cookson, RCA's High Performance Director. "Many of the of the athletes are racing in new combinations and different boat categories, so it will be a great opportunity to test the team's strengths at this early stage in the regatta season."

The World Cup team contains two Olympic gold medalists from the men's eight event in Beijing - Malcolm Howard (shown at right) rowing in the single, and Andrew Byrnes who will compete in a pair with World silver medalist (men's eight) Derek O'Farrell. Beijing bronze medalist Mike Lewis is in the lightweight men's four for this regatta, the same event that he competed in at the Olympics. Many of the other Canadians are past World Championship and World Cup medalists.

Kingston's Isolda Penney is making her first appearance with the team, rowing in the single scull.

This is the first major regatta on Canada's senior team schedule this year. The next appearance (with a modified line up) will be at Henley Royal in Great Britain, which begins late in June, followed by the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, in early July.

World Cup Team:

Women's Single Scull (W1x): Isolda Penney of Kingston, Ont. (Kingston Rowing Club)

Men's Single Scull (M1x): Malcolm Howard of Victoria, B.C. (Brentwood College Rowing Club)

Lightweight Women's Single Scull (LW1x): Lindsay Jennerich of Victoria, B.C. (University of Victoria Rowing Club)

Women's Pair: Krista Guloien of Port Moody, B.C. (UBC Rowing Club); Ashley Brzozowicz of Toronto, Ont. (Western Rowing Club)

Men's Pair (M2-) Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Ont. (St. Catharines RC), and Derek O'Farrell of Unionville, Ont. (McGill University RC)

Men's Double Scull (M2x): Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House, B.C. (UVic RC), and Steven van Knotsenburg of Beamsville, Ont. (Ridley Graduate Boat Club)

Light Men's Double Scull (LM2x): Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que. (McGill University RC) and Cam Sylvester of Caledon, Ont. (Western RC)

Men's Four (M4-): Mike Wilkinson of Vancouver, B.C. (Burnaby Lake Rowing Club); Rob Gibson of Kingston, Ont. (Kingston Rowing Club); Doug Csima of Oakville, Ont. (Leander Boat Club); Fraser Berkhout of St. Catharines, Ont. (Ridley Graduate Boat Club)

Light Men's Four (LM4-): Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont. (Western RC); John Sasi of North Delta, B.C. (Burnaby Lake RC); Rares Crisan of Mississauga Ont. (Kingston RC), Mike Lewis of Victoria, B.C. (UVic RC)

Coaches:
Al Morrow (lead coach women)
Mike Spracklen (lead coach men)
Terry Paul
Allison Dobb

For more on the World Cup:
www.worldrowing.com