Canada won two medals today at the Rowing World Cup in Poznan, Poland, brining the total of the regatta to three including yesterday's medal in the lightweight single .

In the lightweight women's double - the only Olympic event for women in this weight class - Canada's Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S. and Melanie Kok of St. Catharines, Ont. won gold today in 7:27.23; Germany (Berit Carow and Marie-Louise Draeger) was second in 7:29.51 and the bronze went to the reigning World Champions, Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston of Australia, in 7:29.80.

"We were building momentum with every start; and the win today was certainly a nice way to wrap up the World Cup circuit," said Cameron, who, also with Kok, was third at the Lucerne World Cup earlier in June. "However, we will be returning to Canada with even more focus and together we have a lot of ideas on how we can still improve. We know that at the Olympics other crews will be stepping up their game."

The windy conditions today made races a bit slower than times posted earlier in this regatta.

"What I was really excited about was the way the double raced in the second 1000 metres," said their coach, Al Morrow. "They handled the crosswind well; they were aggressive in the third 500 and then just hung on to the lead in the last 500."

To top off the regatta was the women's eight race that ended in a photo-finish, with Canada going home with the silver and some excellent pre-Beijing racing experience. In an extremely tight race down the course, Romania finished on top in 6:22.74, Canada in 6:22.75, followed by Great Britain in 6:23.77 and Germany in 6:24.74.

"This was a first for me (being that close of a finish). It was a very internal race... I knew it was very close, but Lesley (Thompson-Willie, the coxswain) kept us focused," said Jane Rumball, who sits in the stroke position of the eight.

The women’s eight is Rumball of Fredericton, N.B., Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, BC, Buffy Williams of St. Catharines, Ont., Romina Stefancic of Victoria, B.C., Ashley Brzozowicz of Toronto, Ont., Sarah Bonikowsky of Orangeville, Ont., Andréanne Morin of Montreal, Que., Heather Mandoli of Kelowna, B.C., and Lesley Thompson-Willie of London, Ont.

"This worked out to be a good scenario for our crew - to qualify earlier this week and then keep the momentum up for racing at the World Cup definitely worked well for us," said Williams, a veteran of two Olympics (2000 bronze in the eight; and fourth in the pair in 2004). "Between Lucerne, the qualifier and World Cup, we've seen all the crews that will be at the Olympics at least once. A lot can happen in the weeks leading up to the Olympics, but at least we've had this positive experience."

The women's pair (Sabrina Kolker of West Vancouver, BC and Kaylan Vander Schilden of Victoria, B.C.) was fourth in 7:39.47. Germany won decisively in 7:25.94, with New Zealand in second in 7:31.09 and Romania in third in 7:33.59.

In the women's double, Canada's Janine Hanson of Winnipeg, Man. and Krista Guloien of Port Moody, B.C. were fifth in 7:25.37. Great Britain won this event in 7:15.62, followed by Italy and Finland.

The Canadian men's crews are back in Canada preparing for the Olympics.

The next stop for the women will be a gala fundraiser in Toronto, Ontario, on June 25. Then all eight qualified crews will focus on Olympic training.

For more information, results and quotes, see www.worldrowing.com.

PHOTO: www.worldrowing.com, FISA

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Jackie Skender - Rowing Canada Aviron
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