RIO DE JANEIRO – Canada finished a disappointing fifth in the men’s quadruple sculls repechage Monday, failing to qualify for the Olympic final as the rowing regatta resumed after high winds forced the postponement of Sunday’s races.
Will Dean of Kelowna, B.C., Rob Gibson of Kingston, Ont., Pascal Lussier of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and Julien Bahain – who was born in France but competes for Canada – needed a top-2 result to advance, but instead had to settle for a time of five minutes 56.28 seconds.
READ MORE: Canada in reach of medals on Day 3 of Rio 2016
Germany was first in 5:51.43, ahead of Britain in 5:53.10.
Meanwhile, Canada’s women’s eight crew finished last in its three-boat heat and will need to crack the top-4 of Wednesday’s repechage to make the final.
Victoria’s Caileigh Filmer, Susanne Grainger of London, Ont., Natalie Mastracci of Thorold, Ont., Cristy Nurse of Georgetown, Ont., Lisa Roman of Langley, B.C., Christine Roper – a native of Jamaica now living in Canada – Antje von Seydlitz of Smithers, B.C., and Lauren Wilkinson of North Vancouver, B.C., along with coxswain Lesley Thompson-Willie of London, clocked in at 6:12.44, just 0.39 seconds back of New Zealand.
Britain qualified for the final by winning the heat in 6:09.52.
The Canadian men’s quad, which needed a last-chance qualifier just to make it to Rio, stumbled during Saturday’s heats and never recovered. The crew was in good shape through 1,5000 metres of that one despite choppy waters until a wave caused Gibson to lose the grip on one of his oars, forcing the rest of his teammates to pause their strokes to get back on track.
READ MORE: Olympic rowing competition marred by high winds, events postponed Sunday
Canada had a decent start in Monday’s repechage, but faded in the middle portion and couldn’t close the gap in the final 500 metres.
Missing making the final in is a crushing blow to Rowing Canada, which scrapped the popular and successful men’s eight after London 2012 to focus on the quad and the men’s four, which had its heat later Monday.
The eight won silver four years ago after capturing gold in 2008, 1992 and 1984, but the idea was to double Canada’s chances at a medal and the subsequent funding from Own The Podium.
Four other Canadian boats were set to hit the water later Monday, including Victoria’s Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee in the women’s lightweight double sculls.
The rowing competition at Lagoa Stadium featured a jam-packed schedule of 30 combined heats and repechages on Monday following the decision by officials to scrap Sunday’s races because of blustery conditions and the resulting turbulent waters.
That postponement came after Saturday’s opening heats were marred by high winds and whitecapped waves that saw two Serbian rowers capsize during their event.
Comments