Canada's rowers take step towards Rio at national championships
Canada's 10th annual national rowing championships concluded Saturday to begin the selection events for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
The event, which took place in St. Catharines, Ont., was moved up from the usual November date to allow the athletes more time to prepare for the games in August.
Several rowers turned out exceptional performances to set the stage for the most crucial ten months of the quadrennial.
Layla Balooch, of Burnaby, B.C., earned a silver medal with a time of seven minutes 39.62 seconds in the women's singles A final as the only U23 competitor in her race.
Balooch was up against national team members Carling Zeeman, who came in first at 7:33.63, Alyssa Weninger, Kerry Schaffer and Emily Cameron.
"I feel like I pulled a personal best for the year and I'm very happy with how I finished," said Balooch. "I had my race plan, I made the calls and I executed them perfectly."
Zeeman set the standard for the rest of the racers, and has already secured a spot in Rio.
"The standard she's setting is a challenge to the rest of the female scullers in Canada, but it's what we need," said Balooch.
In the lightweight category, Elizabeth Fenje rowed to first place in 7:47.30 in the singles A finals. The technical changes that the Victoria, B.C. native started making to her performance a month ago clearly paid off.
"My focus was on making changes throughout the middle of my race and that's what helped me today," said Fenje. "I'm really excited. It was a great way to end off the year of training."
Nick Pratt, of Kingston, Ont., earned gold in the men's lightweight race in 7:11.05.
"Everyone is on the same level playing field," Pratt said, "You know everyone's strengths and weaknesses but they know your tricks as well. You just have to keep your head down, do your thing and hope for the best."
