McGill rowing grads win silver at World Cup regatta
LUCERNE, Switzerland – Derek O’Farrell of
Unionville, Ont., and Doug Vandor from
Dewittville, Que., both products of the Ď㽶ĘÓƵ rowing
program, each captured silver medals at the prestigious annual
Lucerne World Cup regatta in Switzerland, Sunday.
In its first race since Beijing, the new-look Canadian men’s eight
— which included O’Farrell — was second in the 2,000-metre final,
clocking in at five minutes, 36.09 seconds. Germany took gold in
5:33.56 and the Netherlands earned bronze in 5:37.99. Great
Britain, Poland and Italy followed in order.
Vandor teamed up with Cam Sylvester of Caledon, Ont., to win their
second silver medal of the season in the lightweight men’s double
event. New Zealand took first in 6:22.71; Canada’s time was 6:25.54
and France picked up the bronze in 6:26.62.
All three Canadian crews entered in the finals came away with
medals — two silvers and a bronze — on the final day of the
competition.
“I am very happy that every member of the team that raced today
came away with a medal,’’ Canadian coach Mike Spracklen said in a
Rowing Canada press release.
Malcolm Howard of Victoria, Andrew Byrnes of Toronto, Steve
VanKnotsenburg of Beamsville, Ont., James Dunaway of Duncan, B.C.,
Doug Csima of Oakville, Ont., Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House, B.C.,
and Rob Gibson of Kingston, Ont., were the other members of the
men’s eight.
“We are on track for the world championships,” said Canadian high
performance director Peter Cookson. “Two silvers and a bronze medal
is a good showing. We’ll now go home and tweak things a little to
be fully ready for the world championships (to be held in late
August).”
The Canadian senior crew will now focus on preparing for the world
championships in Poznan, Poland, Aug. 23-30. Canada will also be
sending a junior crew to the under-23 world championships, in the
Czech Republic town of Racice, July 23-26.