Rowing rebound: 3 Canadian teams advance to medal finals
Women's lightweight double sculls, men's 4-team and women's 8 all move on
By Pete Evans, CBC Sports
Three Canadian rowing teams booked their tickets to the medal round in Rio on Thursday, and are in the running for Olympic medals over the next two days.
The Victoria rowing duo of Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee qualified for the A finals in women's rowing on Thursday, and they'll be looking for a medal Friday morning.
The Canadians posted the second-fastest time of anyone in the two semifinals, covering 2,000 metres in just over seven minutes and 16 seconds. That was three seconds behind the leaders, Maiike Head and Ilse Paulis of the Netherlands.
- WATCH REPLAY: Jennerich and Obee book their tickets to the medal round
That time sets up Obee and Jennerich for a coveted middle lane for the finals, which are more desirable because they allow the rowers to easily see where all their competitors are on the course.
The duo are looking for redemption in Rio after a disappointing seventh-place finish London four years ago.
Thursday's rowing schedule is chock full after inclement weather cancelled all rowing events on Wednesday
Other Canadians move on
The men's four team raced shortly after Jennerich and Obee, and qualified for the medal race on Friday after a solid showing in their semifinal on Thursday.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash">#CAN</a> men's four qualifies for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rowing?src=hash">#Rowing</a> final at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rio2016?src=hash">#Rio2016</a>. The final takes place Friday. <a href="https://t.co/9B3suJiXtp">https://t.co/9B3suJiXtp</a> <a href="https://t.co/QM4pdw8YgU">https://t.co/QM4pdw8YgU</a>
—@CBCOlympicsThe team of Conlin McCabe, Kai Langerfeld, Tim Schrijver, and Will Crothers finished second in their semifinal and will race for a medal on Friday. Although the individuals are different, the four-team as a whole is one half of the former men's eight team, which was controversially split into two teams by Rowing Canada after the London Olympics, in a bid to qualify for more medals in more events.
Right after the men's four-team completed their race, Canada's women's eight team won their repechage race and will now also row in the finals on Saturday.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash">#CAN</a> women's eight wins repechage race and will compete in the finals on Saturday <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rowing?src=hash">#Rowing</a> <a href="https://t.co/9B3suJiXtp">https://t.co/9B3suJiXtp</a> <a href="https://t.co/iVjCmH5KSV">https://t.co/iVjCmH5KSV</a>
—@CBCOlympicsTwo other Canadian rowing teams are in action Thursday, but neither are in medal contention after having failed to qualify for the A final in previous races.
The men's quadruple sculls team of Robert Gibson, Julien Bahain, Pascal Lussier and Will Dean — the other half of the former men's 8 team — finished second in the B final a little before noon.
And the women's coxless pair team of Jennifer Martins and Nicole Hare raced in the C final just after 1 p.m. ET, finishing in second place.
She's not racing on Thursday, but Cambridge, Ont.'s Carling Zeeman has already qualified for the semifinals in women's single sculls, which are set to go on Friday. If she finishes in the top three, she'll race for a medal on Saturday.