Rowing sa国际传媒 will learn this week what a winter of training on Elk Lake has produced.
The Greater Victoria-based national governing body announced six Olympians among the 13 rowers, in seven crews, that will represent sa国际传媒 at FISA World Cup 1 Friday through next Sunday in Belgrade, Serbia.
This year represents the half-way point to the next Summer Olympics, so the team for Tokyo 2020 is starting to take shape 鈥� not without some notable seating shifts, at least for the Belgrade World Cup stop.
Without a Canadian women鈥檚 eight entered, heralded rising Victoria rower Caileigh Filmer moves to the pair event with Hillary Janssens of UBC.
Patrick Keane of the University of Victoria Vikes joins with Maxwell Lattimer of UBC in the men鈥檚 lightweight double sculls.
There are big hopes for the men鈥檚 four with Olympic-veteran Kai Langerfeld of Parksville leading a Canadian boat, which includes David de Groot, Alexander Melawany and Mackenzie Copp. That is especially so after the bold move by Rowing sa国际传媒 to hire three-time world coach-of-the-year Dick Tonks to guide the national men鈥檚 team on Elk Lake. Tonks coached New Zealand crews to seven Olympic medals, including six golds, and 25聽world championship medals, including 13 golds.
鈥淲e are really looking forward to seeing our athletes out on the water testing themselves against the best in the world [starting Friday in Belgrade],鈥� Victoria-based Rowing sa国际传媒 CEO Terry Dillon said in a statement. 鈥淚t will be good to find out where we stand.鈥�
sa国际传媒, a former world rowing power, is looking to rebound from its lone silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics that was provided by the retired Victoria lightweight women鈥檚 doubles crew of Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee.
Ontarians Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson, with big shoes to fill, have succeeded Jennerich and Obee in the Canadian lightweight double and will be racing in Belgrade.
The Canadian team for the 2018 FISA world championships, from Sept.聽9 to 16 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, will be announced in August.
鈥淎s we prepare to select and send crews to World Rowing Cup 3 [July 13-15 in Lucerne, Switzerland], and the 2018 world championships in Plovdiv, we will continue to make some exciting adjustments within the high-performance program to best position the team for podium performances in 2020,鈥� said Rowing sa国际传媒鈥檚 high-performance director Iain Brambell, a 2008 Beijing Olympics medallist from Brentwood Bay.
