Canadian rowing pair falls short in final Olympic qualifier

Canada will not have a women's pair entry at the London Games after Natalie Mastracci and Larissa Lagzdins settled for a fourth-place finish in the final Olympic rowing qualification regatta in Switzerland.

Germany won Tuesday's final on the Rotsee course with a time of seven minutes 17.88 seconds. Argentina claimed the other Olympic berth by finishing second in 7:20.05.

Mastracci, from Thorold, Ont., and Lagzdins, from Burlington, Ont., were fourth in 7:22.67.

"It was a valiant effort by both athletes," Rowing Canada high performance director Peter Cookson said in a release. "Unfortunately, today they were beaten out in fierce competition for those final two Olympic spots."

Croatia (7:22.24), Belarus (7:24.61) and France (7:31.21) also missed out on the last-chance attempt to make it to the Games.

The women's pair was the final boat that Canada was attempting to qualify for the 2012 Games.