Eight crews ready to represent Canada at World Rowing Championships
The world’s best rowers, including eight Canadian crews, are set to compete in the World Rowing Championships which begin September 24 in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida.
After holding off making their international season debut until the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland – where they earned two medals in early July – the Canadian team is hoping to build on that performance and put on a strong showing at the global championship regatta.
Team Canada’s Cristy Nurse, Lisa Roman, Ante von Seydlitz, Christine Roper, Lauren Wilkinson, Susanne Grainger, Natalie Mastracci, Caileigh Filmer and Lesley Thompson-Willie in the womens eight repechage at Lagoa Rowing Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday August 11, 2016. COC Photo/David Jackson
The women’s eight crew, making their first international appearance of the season, will feature five Olympians aiming to improve on the fifth-place finish at Rio 2016. Susanne Grainger, Lisa Roman and Christine Roper were in that boat and are now joined by Nicole Hare and Jennifer Martins, along with alternate Hillary Janssens as well as Paralympic bronze medallist Kristen Kit as the coxswain. The Olympic Games marked the first time since 2009 that the Canadian women’s eight had failed to win a medal at the biggest event of the year.
Doing double duty in the women’s four boat are Roman, Grainger, Roper, and Hare. The latter three were part of the crew who overcame a poor start at World Cup III to chase down the Dutch boat and capture a bronze medal. With the women’s four returning to the Olympic program at Tokyo 2020, the Canadian boat is looking to establish themselves as early medal contenders following their performance in Lucerne.
RELATED: Canada nabs two medals in Lucerne at World Rowing Cup III
Carling Zeeman of Canada ahead of heats at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland in July 2017 (Photo: Igor Meijer via World Rowing).
Carling Zeeman, who placed 10th in her Olympic debut in Rio and second in Lucerne in July, returns to the water in single sculls, hopeful that she will claim her first career world championship medal. In 2015, she won gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto before placing sixth at the worlds in her first senior season in the single.
On the men’s side, several changes have been made to the crews following World Cup III. Olympian Kai Langerfield, along with Mackenzie Copp, now join David de Groot and Taylor Perry in the men’s four. This adjustment reunites Copp and de Groot, teammates on the bronze medal-winning four crew at the 2015 World Under-23 Championships.
The men’s heavyweight double sculls will feature Matthew Buie and Conlin McCabe, a duo that won the B Final at the Lucerne World Cup. Two-time Olympian McCabe won a silver medal at London 2012 with the eight and finished sixth with the four in Rio. Buie has excelled in quadruple sculls in the past, winning a 2015 Pan Am Games gold and several World Cup medals.
The semifinals and finals of the world championships will be streamed on CBC Sports from Friday, September 29 to Sunday, October 1. WorldRowing.com will also stream the A/B Semifinals on Friday and the A-Finals on Saturday and Sunday. Full start lists, results tracking, and audio commentary can be found at WorldRowing.com
Check out the full Team Canada roster below:
Women’s single sculls
Carling Zeeman
Women’s four
Susanne Grainger
Nicole Hare
Lisa Roman
Christine Roper
Women’s lightweight quadruple sculls (non-Olympic event)
Jennifer Casson
Ellen Gleadow
Trish Mara
Jill Moffatt
Women’s eight
Kristin Bauder
Susanne Grainger
Nicole Hare
Hillary Janssens
Jennifer Martins
Lisa Roman
Christine Roper
Rebecca Zimmerman
Cox: Kristen Kit
Men’s four
Mackenzie Copp
David de Groot
Kai Langerfeld
Taylor Perry
Men’s double sculls
Matthew Buie
Conlin McCabe
Men’s lightweight single sculls (non-Olympic event)
Aaron Lattimer
Men’s lightweight double sculls
Taylor Hardy
Patrick Keane
