Canadian rowers Smith, Sevick advance to final of women's double sculls in Tokyo
3 other Canadian boats moved onto semifinals; both four teams advances to final
Canadian rowers Gabrielle Smith and Jessica Sevick put the cherry on top of a solid outing for Canada on the waters, advancing to the final of the women's double sculls event on Sunday in Tokyo.
The duo are the first Canadians to make it into a final for rowing in the Tokyo Games.
Smith, of Unionville, Ont., along with Sevick of Strathmore, Alta., finished in second place in the second semifinal race with a time of seven minutes and 9.44 seconds, just 1.35 seconds behind the Netherlands' Roos de Jong and Lisa Scheenaard.
"[The heat] was our first international race together and my first senior international regatta, so I think it got to me a little bit," Sevick said. "[For the semifinal] I tried to limit the external distractions, because obviously, the Olympics, it's a lot … I kind of just tried to stay internal and stick to Gabby and I's interactions and then also just stay loose, stay chill."
Smith saidsome minor adjustments could help the duo improve on its semifinal performance.
"I think we can build on what we just did and carry on that relaxation and looseness," Smith said. "And I think we can also take some confidence from that and have just a little bit more of a build towards the line and a little bit more speed through the middle to just sort of get out in front and row relaxed."
Canada's women's four team advanced to the B final with a fourth-place finish in the repechage round.
Crossing the finish line with a time of 6:51.71 seconds, the Canadian team featuring Jennifer Martins, Kristina Walker, Nicole Hare, and Stephanie Grauer, finished ahead of the U.S. but behind third-place Romania, second-place Poland and the winner, Great Britain.
The Canadian men's four team also advanced to Tuesday's B final, finishing in fourth in the repechage round with a time of 6:15.86 seconds.
Canada's Carling Zeeman advanced to the semifinal of the women's single sculls, coming in second place in the second quarter-final race.
Finishing with a time of 7:57.58 seconds, the Cambridge, Ont., native finished behind ROC's Hanna Prakhatsen.
The 30-year-old was in third place all the way through the 1,500-metre mark until overtaking Great Britain's Victoria Thornley in the final 500 metres of the race.
"The biggest battle out there is doing a close to max effort two-km race, like seven-and-a-half minutes, in 30 degree heat, it's a grind for sure," Zeeman said. "For me it's definitely important to not let [the heat] get to my head."
Lakefield, Ont., native Trevor Jones finished in second place in the second quarter-final in the men's single sculls, allowing him to advance to the semifinals on Sunday in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old's time of 7:17.65 seconds was 7.13 seconds behind Denmark's Sverri Nielsen.
Patrick Keane and Maxwell Lattimer of Ladner, B.C., booked their ticket into the semifinals of the men's lightweight double sculls, finishing second place in the first heat, with a time of 6:36.79 seconds.
The duo started out strong holding first place for the first half of the race but eventually surrendered the lead to Sweden's Igor Khmara and Stanislav Kovalov, who won the race with a time of 6:36.28.
