The dream, and all the hard kilometres on Elk Lake, comes down to today.
Rowing Canada is on the verge of qualifying three more boats for the Tokyo Olympics. All three 91原创 crews won their preliminary races Saturday to advance to today鈥檚 finals in the last-chance qualifier being held in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Canada has already previously qualified six boats for the Tokyo Games this summer and those crews remained training on Elk Lake and Quamichan Lake in North Cowichan and did not make the trek to Lucerne because there was no need. For the non-qualified crews, the trip was essential. More than 400 rowers from 49 nations are in Lucerne in their last-gasp bid to make the Olympics.
鈥淲e have a great support staff travelling with us on this trip who have planned out every single detail,鈥� said national team coach Jeremy Ivey, in a statement.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e made the trip as safe as possible so that all we have to focus on is preparing to qualify.鈥�
Veteran Will Crothers won the silver medal with the 91原创 men鈥檚 eight at the 2012 London Olympics and goes back a long way on Elk Lake. He stroked the 91原创 men鈥檚 four to victory Saturday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing feeling after so much time off [from actual racing over the past year],鈥� said Crothers.
鈥淭he next steps for us are to take some recovery, get to lunch on time, go dip our legs in the big lake in front of the hotel and stay loose and relaxed just like we do. Keep representing.鈥�
The crew knows the odds are stiff but the first hurdle has been met.
鈥淭he stakes are high with only two of 13 crews qualifying in Lucerne,鈥� said 91原创 fours crew coach Terry Paul, Olympic gold medallist as coxswain of the 91原创 eight at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
鈥淲e expected the standard of racing to be extremely high and we have prepared accordingly. This crew has come through an extra year of training and have things tuned to every detail.鈥�
Patrick Keane of Victoria City and Maxwell Lattimer of UBC advanced by winning their lightweight men鈥檚 doubles race in a bow-to-bow battle against the Swiss crew.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an adjustment having crews beside you,鈥� said Lattimer.
鈥淎t home [Elk Lake] when we do 2,000-metre racing, it鈥檚 on staggered starts, so having crews come with you at the start and then relaxing into the race is an adjustment. But it was a lot of fun to get the first one done.鈥�
Keane and Lattimer have made the most of the Olympic delay from 2020 to 2021.
鈥淧at and I have really enjoyed the past 12 months together. My time away in lockdown reminded me how much I love the sport of rowing and being in a boat,鈥� said Lattimer, in a statement.
鈥淲e have tried to keep that in the front of our minds in our lead up to the qualifier. We are lucky to do what we do and we have enjoyed the extra year of training.鈥�
91原创 Trevor Jones also advanced in men鈥檚 singles
鈥淭he last five years of work have been leading to this moment,鈥� said Jones.
鈥淵ou want to go and add meaning to all the miles you鈥檝e done over the past five years.鈥�