Three Canadian rowing crews lock up spots at qualifier for Tokyo Olympics

LUCERNE, Switzerland — Three more Canadian rowing crews locked up spots for the Summer Olympics on Sunday.

The men’s lightweight double, men’s single and men’s four punched their tickets for Tokyo with their performances at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The results bring Rowing Canada’s total delegation up to 10 qualified boats, the largest since the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

“We are incredibly proud of our Canadian crews’ achievements today on the Rotsee,” said high-performance director Iain Brambell. “The Final Olympic Qualification Regatta is a difficult event at the best of times and our crews came through with flying colours.”

Maxwell Lattimer of Delta, B.C., and Patrick Keane of Victoria held off a Czech boat at the finish to win the lightweight men’s double sculls in six minutes 28.53 seconds. 

“In the heat we were kind of getting the cobwebs off,” said Keane. “Getting to race against our category, it was a very big thrill, so much excitement. To be racing people in our boat class, we got that immediately after the first race and just carried on in the semifinal and final.”

Will Crothers of Kingston, Ont., Gavin Stone of Brampton, Ont., Luke Gadsdon of Hamilton, Ont., and Jakub Buczek of Burnaby, B.C., finished second in the men’s four final in 6:07.84 behind South Africa (6:06.11). 

Trevor Jones of Lakefield, Ont., finished second (in 7:01.48) behind Russia’s Alexander Vyazovkin (6:56.90) to secure the single sculls spot.

“It feels great,” Jones said. “It’s been a long time coming and is just nice after over 18 months of working toward this to have finally done it and to know that I get to race in Tokyo.”

Seven Canadian boats previously qualified based on their results at the 2019 world championship. They include the men’s pair, women’s pair, women’s single, women’s double, women’s four, women’s lightweight double and women’s eight.

The Olympic regatta is scheduled for July 23-30 at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2021. 

The Canadian Press