Rowing Canada  – Sunday, July 29, 2018 – Two gold medals capped off an exciting week of racing for Canadian crews at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Poznan, Poland.  The women’s eight and Trevor Jones in the men’s single sculls both finished on the podium today, dominating their A Finals and defending their world championship titles.
 
The reigning world champion in the men’s single, Trevor Jones did not waiver in his commitment to retain his world championship title.  Winning his heat, quarterfinal, and semi-final, Jones delivered a clear message that he was the one to beat.

During the A final, Trevor Jones sat in the middle lane next to Benjamin Davison of the United States who recorded the fastest time in the semifinals on Saturday. Germany got out ahead quickly but Jones went through the middle of the race in the lead with Davison right behind. Jones continued to extend his lead despite the best efforts by Germany who came into the sprint at a 38 stroke rate. Jones secured the race win with a comfortable 33 stroke rate and time of 6:48.70, finishing just two seconds outside of the under-23 World Best Time. 
 
The Canadian women’s eight boat powered by Isabel Ruby-Hill, Avalon Wasteneys, Sydney Payne, Stephanie Grauer, Kendra Wells, Madison Mailey, Morgan Rosts, Ivy Elling-Quaintance, and coxswain Laura Court waited patiently to race in their A Final event after qualifying directly from their heat on Thursday. Canada won their heat by a solid margin and recorded the overall fastest time.

In the A Final, the United States shot out to an early lead with Canada in second. Canada decided that the third 500m was theirs to own and picked up the pace to overtake the United States. Canada looked outstanding in the final sprint and with a time of 6:04.61 they successfully defended their 2017 world championship title. 

“The race was fantastic,” said two-time U23 gold medalist Sydney Payne. “We stayed calm and collected and kept our focus internal. We stayed with our race plan and everything went as well as it could have. To repeat as champions means more than words can describe.”

The men’s eight consisting of Brett Vilk, Travis Gronsdahl, Dan de Groot, Gavin Stone, Luke Gadsdon, Nicholas Tavaras, Alexander Bebb, Elliott Rogers, and coxswain Skylar Presch, finished 5^th in the A final today. Canada advanced through from the repechage on Friday, an overall impressive performance despite some health setbacks amongst the team.
 
The Canadian men’s four advanced to the B final from their semis on Saturday. Sean van Gessel, Brendan Wall, Matthew Schultz and Liam Keane were set to line up for their B final on Sunday however some untimely illnesses within the team forced the crew to scratch their boat off the start list.

The men’s quadruple sculls consisting of Mathew Szymanowski, Nicholas Everett, Charles Alexander and Luc Brodeur, wrapped up their event with a C final win to round out their debut international regatta in 13^th overall.
 
The women’s quadruple sculls including Marilou Duvernay Tardif, Hayley Chase, Grace VandenBroek, and Louise Munro progressed to the A final through the repechage on Thursday. The Canadians finished a solid 5^th place overall in the A Final on Saturday.  
 
Vlad Timinski and Alex Bernst also wrapped up their event yesterday in 13^th overall, a good international debut for the duo in the lightweight men’s double boat.
 
Larissa Werbicki and McKenna Simpson raced well in the women’s pair through to the A/B semifinals, progressing to the B finals yesterday and placing 10^th overall.
 
“I’m proud of this team and their commitment to race,” said Adam Parfitt, RCA Director of Coach and Athlete Pathways. “Every crew this week had a challenge in front of them, approached it professionally and learned from the process. It’s thrilling to have the two World Championship repeats in the men’s single and women’s eight. Those were outstanding performances and set the standard for us in Canada.”

Congratulations to the entire Under 23 World Championship team!

For full results and recap of the World Rowing Under-23 Championships and videos of A Finals, see WorldRowing.com.
 
It’s still not too late to support the U23 team or any of our NextGen athletes! RCA launched the #RCANextGen campaign to raise funds that will go directly to reducing any fees that athletes face when representing Canada.

To show your support of the athletes and the campaign via social media, post #RCANextGen on your Facebook or Twitter. RCA would like to thank all those who have contributed already to the campaign in support of the next generation of Canadian rowers!
 
Under-23 Canadian Team
 

U23 Women’s Eight	Isabel	Ruby-Hill	Branksome Hall Rowing
	Avalon	Wasteneys	University of Victoria
	Sydney	Payne	Brentwood College Rowing Club
	Stephanie	Grauer	Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
	Kendra	Wells	University of Toronto/ Hanlon Boat Club
	Madison	Mailey	Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
	Morgan	Rosts	Ridley Graduate Boat Club
	Ivy	Elling Quaintance	Victoria City Rowing Club
Coxswain	Laura	Court	St. Catharines Rowing Club
U23 Women’s Coxless Pair	McKenna	Simpson	University of Victoria
(Racing spares)	Larissa	Werbicki	Saskatoon Rowing Club
U23 Women’s Quad	Marilou	Duvernay-Tardif	Knowlton Rowing Club
	Hayley	Chase	Sudbury Rowing Club
	Grace	Van Den Broek	Peterborough Rowing Club
	Louise	Munro	Queens University/ Kingston Rowing Club
U23 Men’s Eight	Brett	Vilk	Brentwood College Rowing Club
	Travis	Gronsdahl	Victoria City Rowing Club
	Dan	de Groot	St. Catharines Rowing Club
	Gavin	Stone	Queens University/Kingston Rowing Club
	Luke	Gadsdon	Brock University/Leander Boat Club
	Nicholas	Tavares	South Niagara Rowing Club
	Alexander	Bebb	St. Georges Rowing Club
	Elliott	Rogers	Brentwood College Rowing Club
Coxswain	Skylar	Presch	University of Victoria
U23 Men’s Quad	Mathew	Szymanowski	University of Victoria/Cambridge Rowing Club
	Nicholas	Everett	Brockville Rowing Club
	Charles	Alexander	Sudbury Rowing Club
	Lucien	Brodeur	University of Victoria
U23 Men’s Single	Trevor	Jones	Peterborough Rowing Club
U23 Lightweight Men’s Double	Vlad	Timinski	Kingston Rowing Club
	Alex	Bernst	Ottawa Rowing Club
U23 Men’s Four	Sean	van Gessel	University of British Columbia
	Brendan	Wall	Victoria City Rowing Club/ University of British Columbia
	Clark	Schultz	Ridley Graduate Boat Club/University of British Columbia
	Liam	Keane	Victoria City Rowing Club
Lead Coaches	Terry	Paul	Rowing Canada Aviron
	Michelle	Darvill	Rowing Canada Aviron
Coaches	Lesley	Thompson-Willie	London Rowing Club
	Aalbert	Van Schothorst	University of Victoria
	Amanda	Schweinbenz	Laurentian University
	Dane	Lawson	Rowing Canada Aviron/ Western HUB

For more information:
RCA Communications
comm@rowingcanada.org