Two more Canadian boats advanced to the Samsung World Rowing Cup medal round Saturday as the men's pair and lightweight men's double rowed strong semifinal races.
Scott Frandsen of Kelowna, B.C., and Victoria's David Calder won their men's pair semifinal in a time of six minutes 21.51 seconds. Britain was second in 6:23.08 and Italy third in 6:27.52. All three teams qualified for the final.
"Today's race was a good one for Scott and I, we wanted to get out and test ourselves against the Italians," Calder said. "The last time we raced them, they won a bronze medal at the Worlds and we were fifth, so it was a big step for us.
"We felt like we built on the heat yesterday, and we hope to build even more for tomorrow's final."
Men's team alternates Spencer Crowley of Lantzville, B.C., and Will Dean of Kelowna, rowed in the other men's pair semifinal and missed out on the third A final berth with a time of in 6:28.19. Just
The lightweight men's double of Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que., and Winnipeg's Morgan Jarvis finished second in their semifinal and advanced. Vandor and Jarvis finished in 6:16.08 behind New Zealand (6:15.74). Great Britain also advanced in 6:21.46.
"We are here as a first test to see how we compare," Jarvis said. "We were in a semi with some of the best boats, and we knew we wanted to be in there competing with them. So today we managed to do that — head in, working together and focused on our race. It turned out pretty well. It's a positive first step to keep going forward and do more work in our training."
The men's four was fourth in the repechage in 5:54.41, and must now row in the B final for places seven to 12.
The lightweight women's double of Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, N.S., and Victoria's Lindsay Jennerich also missed out on an A final berth, placing third in the repechage.
The men's double team finished sixth in its semifinal, while the women's pair team was fifth in its semi. Neither boat advanced to the A final.