It was the podium times two on a memorable Friday for Island athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Victoria rowers Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee won the silver medal in the women鈥檚 lightweight double, while Victoria swimmer Hilary Caldwell captured bronze in the women鈥檚 200-metre backstroke.
Jennerich鈥檚 and Obee鈥檚 was a medal years in the making after the 2012 London Olympics, where the duo failed to make the final after winning silver at the 2011 world championships.
鈥淚 am really happy and relieved . . . it鈥檚 hard to describe,鈥� said Obee, by phone from Rio.
Trailing by three seconds and in fifth place at the halfway point of the 2,000-metre final in Rio, Jennerich and Obee put on their patented late push to rally for the silver medal, holding off the bronze-medallist Chinese double but were unable to catch the proficient gold-medallist Dutch.
Jennerich, who rows from the bow seat and is the quarterback of the duo, said she asked Obee to empty her tank with 750 metres remaining, and her partner did. Backed by all those early mornings and hard kilometres on Elk Lake, they left everything out there on the water Friday in Rio.
鈥淧atricia responded when we needed and never once did she let me down,鈥� said Jennerich.
鈥淲e were fully committed to each other.鈥�
Even at that, there would be no catching the Dutch, who were in a class by themselves.
鈥淪ilver for VCRC [Victoria City Rowing Club] junior alum . . . what a race!,鈥� Tweeted the club.
鈥淲e really felt the support from Vic City,鈥� said Obee.
Jennerich talked about a life鈥檚 journey.
鈥淚 came out of Vic City to UVic rowing all out of the same boathouse,鈥� she said.
鈥淓lk Lake and that boathouse has been a huge part of my life. I hope I made everybody at the boathouse really proud. I must thank them so much. To have two rowers from the same city and same boathouse on the Olympic podium together is really special and unique.鈥�
Even the weather for the Olympic final was just like home for the Islanders.
鈥淚t was gray and raining and we looked at each other and said: 鈥榁ictoria is here with us,鈥欌�� chuckled Jennerich.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like everything had come full circle on this day. It鈥檚 unbelievable.鈥�
Their coach, Tom Morris, had placed duct tape on their foot plates in their boat before the final with the word 鈥淭unnel鈥� written on Obee鈥檚, as in tunnel vision, and 鈥淣o Regrets鈥� written on Jennerich鈥檚.
鈥淏oth messages were perfect and were good reminders of what each of us had to do,鈥� said Jennerich, by phone.
鈥淚鈥檓 at peace with no regrets,鈥� she said, of her silver medal.
With also Caldwell鈥檚 bronze in swimming Friday, Island-based athletes have three medals at the Rio Olympics, with the Langford-centralized women鈥檚 rugby sevens team capturing the bronze medal earlier in the week.
But the proud rowing legacy could be fading with Victoria-based Rowing sa国际传媒 facing a massive post-Rio rebuild. Although Obee is 24 years old, Jennerich is 34.
鈥淢y parents are wondering why they don鈥檛 have grand-children by now,鈥� said Jennerich, only half-jokingly.
The men鈥檚 rowing program, meanwhile, will need major retooling after a hugely disappointing Rio Olympics. The Elk Lake-based Canadian men鈥檚 four made the final Friday but fell back to a sixth-place place. Obee鈥檚 boyfriend is Will Crothers of the fours crew.
鈥淚鈥檓 just gutted for them,鈥� she said.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 final chance for a rowing medal is Saturday when the Canadian women鈥檚 eight 鈥� with Caileigh Filmer and Christine Roper of Victoria and UVic Vikes product Antje von Seydlitz 鈥� race in the final.
Victoria swimmer Caldwell was on form all through the preliminaries and semifinals en route to winning her 200-metre backstroke bronze medal Friday in 2:07.54 behind winner Maya DiRado of the U.S. (2:05.99) and silver-medallist Katinka Hosszu of Hungary (2:06.05).
鈥淚 wanted that gold medal. But being on the podium is amazing,鈥� said Caldwell, in her post-race CBC-TV interview.
鈥淢aking the podium feels normal. Something sa国际传媒 has never felt before,鈥� she added, about the six Canadian medals in the Rio Olympic pool (out of 10 in total so far at the Games for sa国际传媒).
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic-medallist swimmer Ryan Cochrane of Victoria began his quest Friday in the 1,500-metre freestyle preliminaries. The 2008 Beijing bronze- and 2012 London silver-medallist qualified for today鈥檚 final but didn鈥檛 look like his old confident self as Cochrane began fading late and laboured in qualifying seventh for the eight-man final. The world appears to have caught up and the 27-year-old Islander will have to dig deep within himself to reach the podium for a third consecutive Olympics.
