Weekend Wrap: Canadian Athletes Bring Home Medals at 2021 WRICH
Competition/ Mar 1

Weekend Wrap: Canadian Athletes Bring Home Medals at 2021 WRICH


Athletes from across the world participated in the first ever virtual edition of the World Rowing Indoor Championships last week as the competitors rowed in living rooms, basements, backyards and gyms in a variety of races from Feb. 23-27.

The indoor rowing event featured 935 rowers from 63 countries who competed in individual races over distances of 500m or 2000m, as well as several team races featuring men’s, women’s and mixed teams. Many of the competitors qualified to compete at the event by placing in one of the five continental qualification events in the lead up to the event, with many of the Canadian competitors qualifying at the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships which took place on Feb. 6-7.

Canadian athletes brought home eight medals and earned 31 top-10 finishes over the course of four days of action. Among the Ontario athletes who won medals were Alida Kingswood of Woodstock, who won a gold medal and set a world record (10:11.8) in the women’s 85-89 2000m race. Other masters competitors earning medals were David Willett of the St. Catharines Rowing Club who claimed a silver medal in the men’s 85-89 2000m race and Arthur Pearse of the St. Lawrence Rowing Club who won a bronze medal in the men’s 75-79 2000m division in a time of 8:32.2. Racing in a deep field, Shane Keagan of Ridley College Rowing also put on an impressive performance by winning the bronze medal in the under-19 men’s 500m race in a time of 1:19.7.

Other Canadian medalists included Quebec NextGen athlete Marilou Duvernay Tardif (W Open, 3rd place), New Brunswick’s Michelle Raiche-Marsden (LW 55-59, 3rd place), Nova Scotia’s Kathy Spurr (W 55-59, 3rd place) and Alberta’s Sheila Findlay (W 60-64, 3rd place).

The fastest overall time in the men’s and women’s 2000m categories went to Ward Lemmeljin of Belgium (5:42.2) and Kirsten Kline of the USA (6:45.8) respectively, while Phil Clapp of the United Kingdom (1:11.6) and Ana do Carmo Caldas of Portugal (1:24.5) earned the top times in the 500m categories.

Canadian athletes with top-10 finishes from the event can be found below. For full results visit 2021 WRICH.

2000m
W Open – Marilou Duvernay Tardif – 3rd place – 6:54.7
W Open – Lisa Bos – 4th place – 7:14.3
W Open – Danielle Abusow – 5th place – 7:17.3
MU19 – Michael Caryk – 5th place – 6:05.1
M U23 – Sam Stewart – 7th place – 6:11.8
W 30-39 – Rae Ceccato – 8th place – 7:28.6
W 50-54 – Janet Bolton – 6th place – 7:44.0
M 55-59 – Frans Bouwmans – 4th place – 6:30.4
M 55-59 – David Miege – 7th place – 6:43.8
W 60-64 – Sheila Findlay – 3rd place – 7:43.7
M 65-69 – Richard Stout – 5th place – 6:59.9
M 75-79 – Arthur Pearse – 3rd place – 8:32.2
M 85-89 – David Willett – 2nd place – 9:49.8
W 85-89 – Alida Kingswood – 1st place – 10:11.8
LW Open – Manuela Fahme – 8th place – 7:33.8
LW Open – Jasmine Carter – 10th place – 7:43.0
LM U23 – Tony DiDomenico – 7th place – 6:39.3
LW U23 – Rowan O’Neill – 8th place – 7:52.3
LM 30-39 – Derek O’Farrell – 5th place – 6:28.8
LM 50-54 – Hugh Trenchard – 9th place – 6:59.8
LW 50-54 – Carolyn Ford – 8th place – 8:35.5
LW 55-59 – Michelle Raiche-Marsden – 3rd place – 7:59.6
LM 65-69 – Sam Shatenstein – 4th place – 7:25.2

500m
W Open – Lisa Bos – 10th place – 1:37.8
M U19 – Shane Keagan – 3rd place – 1:19.7
LW 40-49 – Vanessa Mackinnon – 6th place – 1:46.0
LW 50-59 – Carolyn Ford – 5th place – 1:52.6
M 55-59 – Frans Bouwmans – 4th place – 1:24.9
W 55-59 – Kathy Spurr – 3rd place – 1:46.0
LM 60+ – Stephen Roedde – 4th place – 1:31.6

W 1 Hour – Tanya Rodger – 9th place 14014m