WATCH: Women’s Double Sculls (W2X) Final A
Langley’s Andrea Proske was instrumental in helping Canada wins two bronze medals at the final World Cup event of 2019 in Rotterdam, Netherlands today.
Proske and Quebec’s Gabrielle Smith captured Canada’s first medal of the day taking the bronze in challenging head wind conditions (8:03.77) with Romania taking the gold (7:58.39) and Australia winning the silver medal (7:59.11).
This marks the second World Cup medal for this Canadian crew, earning a silver medal at the 2018 World Cup 3 in Lucerne.
“It definitely bumpy out there,” said the 33-year-old Langley rower.
“We train on some pretty wavy water so this isn’t so strange here. I think the change in weather conditions are part of why I love the sport so much because it can be anyone’s game, it’s not only mental out there but also very technical.”
PAST COVERAGE: Langley rower takes silver at Lucerne, Switzerland
The Women’s Eight crew secured Canada’s second bronze medal of the day in equally challenging conditions, overtaking Russia for third place position at the 1000-metre mark.
Canada held onto the pace to cross the line with the bronze (6:46.77) behind gold medalists from New Zealand (6:32.40) and Australia in silver (6:36.04). The Canadian Women’s Eight won the silver medal at the 2018 world rowing championships in Bulgaria.
“It was tough out there with the wind but we committed from our start,” said coxswain Kristen Kit.
“I am really proud of these women! They stuck with it and in the second and third 500 metres. They trusted in the process and they trusted in each other.”
CAN1 Women’s Four crew, Sydney Payne (Toronto, Ont.) Lisa Roman (London, Ont.), Nicole Hare (Calgary, Alta.), and Hillary Janssens (Cloverdale) battled in their A final, finishing fourth overall behind Australia, Denmark, and Romania.
This is the first World Cup event for this Canadian women’s crew combination.
“Fourth place is always tough to swallow but we are proud of the way we executed our race today,” said Nicole Hare. “Our heads are high and we are excited to see what we can do leading into World Championships in August.”
Jill Moffatt (Bethany, Ont.) Jennifer Casson (Kingston, Ont.) won the B Final event in the lightweight women’s double placing seventh overall as a new crew combination this year.
The women’s crews will now return home to join the men’s and para program at the National Training Centre in Victoria, in preparation for the 2019 World Championships to be held Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 in Linz, Austria.
The 2019 World Championships will be the first opportunity for nations to qualify crews for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.