Canadians in three boats earn spots in Olympic rowing finals

Three Canadian boats have qualified for finals at the Olympic rowing regatta.

Victoria’s Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee finished second in their women’s lightweight double sculls semifinal while the men’s four also finished second in the semis to go through.

The women’s eight dominated the repechage, finishing first to book their spot in the medal race.

Jennerich and Obee – Canada’s best hope for a rowing medal – finished in seven minutes 16.35 seconds.

The Netherlands won the race in 7:13.93.

The men’s four – Will Crothers of Kingston, Ont., Kai Langerfeld of North Vancouver, B.C., Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont., and Tim Schrijver of Thedford, Ont. – crossed in 6:20.66, more than three seconds behind first-place Britain.

Racing resumed at Lagoa Stadium on Thursday after the entire schedule was postponed a day earlier due to high winds and rough water.

Rowing Canada decided to scrap the decorated men’s eight boat in favour of the four and the quadruple sculls. The quad failed to make the final earlier in the week, putting more pressure on the four to succeed.

Jennerich, 34, and Obee, 24, have been waiting four years to redeem themselves after they failed to advance to the final in London.

They were fourth at the 2015 world championships after winning silver in 2014, but won gold at a World Cup in May in a race featuring an Olympic-calibre field.

The women’s eight, led by 56-year-old coxswain Lesley Thompson-Willie, won silver in 2012 and was second at the 2014 world championships, but dropped down to third at the 2015 worlds and was bumped off the podium at the final World Cup tune-up in May.

Canada added 19-year-old Caileigh Filmer of Victoria after that event to shake things up, with Monday marking the first time the crew had raced together in competition.

The Canadian crew, which also includes Victoria’s Caileigh Filmer, Susanne Grainger of London, Ont., Natalie Mastracci of Thorold, Ont., Cristy Nurse of Georgetown, Ont., Lisa Roman of Langley, B.C., Christine Roper – a native of Jamaica now living in Canada – Antje von Seydlitz of Smithers, B.C., and Lauren Wilkinson of North Vancouver, B.C., looked strong Thursday as they raced out to an early lead and held it to finish in 6:28.07, nearly five seconds ahead of second-place Romania.