5 Team Canada things to watch this weekend: June 16-18
After all the excitement set off last Sunday by Nick Taylor’s historic victory at the RBC Canadian Open, there’s a chance for even more Team Canada wins this weekend.
The newest national hero went straight to Los Angeles where’s among seven Canadians in the field at the U.S. Open. It will be the season debut for the Canadian rowing team at a World Cup regatta. An Olympic veteran makes his return to the World Cup archery circuit for the first time since 2021. Meanwhile, the Canadian track cycling team is racing for the podium at the Pan Am Championships and Canada’s top beach volleyball tandem look to maintain their momentum.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll want to keep an eye on:
Rowing
Canadian rowers are competing in their first major regatta of the season, joining the World Cup for the second stop of the circuit in Varese, Italy. Canada will enter boats in eight events — men’s and women’s eights, women’s four, men’s and women’s quad sculls, women’s double sculls, women’s lightweight double sculls, and men’s single sculls — featuring a total of 31 rowers.
Avalon Wasteneys, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Sydney Payne, and coxswain Kristen Kit — who all won Olympic gold in the women’s eight at Tokyo 2020 — are back in that boat. Three-time Olympian Will Crothers, who won silver in the eight at London 2012, will provide veteran leadership to the men’s eight.
Among the other Olympians on the team, Jill Moffatt and Jenny Casson return to race in the women’s lightweight double sculls while Trevor Jones will be Canada’s representative in the men’s single sculls. Carling Zeeman, who competed at two Olympic Games in single sculls, has joined the women’s quad sculls crew. Rowing Canada has a complete list of the crews.
Racing will get underway on Friday with the heats. Finals will take place across Saturday and Sunday. CBCSports will have livestream coverage starting at 9:15 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Archery
Six Canadian archers are in Medellin, Colombia for World Cup Stage 3. That group includes Eric Peters, who finished fifth in men’s individual recurve at the first World Cup of the year in mid-April. On his way to achieving that result, he defeated the reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey, who was competing in his home country. The Canadian team did not enter the second World Cup in Shanghai in May.
Making his return to World Cup competition this week is veteran Crispin Duenas, who hasn’t competed in a major international event since his fourth Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020. But after the qualification round on Wednesday, it was Devaang Gupta who stood as the top Canadian man, just a few points ahead of Peters.
Leading the way for the Canadian women in qualification was Kristine Esebua, who placed 14th, putting her ahead of teammates Stephanie Barrett and Virginie Chénier. The elimination rounds for the men’s and women’s individual recurve event will get underway on Friday, as will the elimination rounds of the mixed team event. The finals will take place on Sunday.
Track Cycling
The Pan American Track Cycling Championships are underway in San Juan, Argentina. Competition began on Wednesday and will continue through Sunday.
Though Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell is not in attendance, instead focusing on her preparations for the world championships in August at a training camp, the Canadian team is quite formidable. On Wednesday, Olympic bronze medallist Lauriane Genest won silver in the women’s team sprint with Sarah Orban and Jackie Boyle. Dylan Bibic, the reigning world champion in the men’s scratch race, added the Pan Am title to his resume. Canada also won gold in the men’s team sprint with a great effort from James Hedgcock, Tyler Rorke, and Nick Wammes.
Golf
Nick Taylor didn’t have long to relish becoming the first Canadian in 69 years to win the RBC Canadian Open. He, along with fellow Canadians Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, Roger Sloan, and Adam Svensson are all in Los Angeles for the third men’s major of the year, the 123rd edition of the U.S. Open.
Upon arrival at the Los Angeles Country Club on Monday, Hadwin discovered that tournament organizers were taking his safety to another level after he was memorably tackled by a security guard while trying to celebrate Taylor with a champagne shower.
TSN will have broadcast coverage of all four rounds.
Beach Volleyball
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are seeking their second straight podium on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. They finished third on May 31 at the Elite 16 event in Ostrava, Czechia. This weekend they’re in Jurmala, Latvia for a Challenge event.
Pool play gets underway on Friday, which sets up the playoff round that starts on Saturday. The finals will be on Sunday. The tournament will be streamed by Volleyball World.
