Brentonians make their mark at World Cup in Lucerne

Five former rowers of the Brentwood College Rowing Club took one step closer to racing for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Racing this past weekend at the Lucerne World Cup were Pete Dembicki (Class of 1998) and Jamie Faris (2001) in the straight four. Dave Calder (1996) and Scott Frandsen (1998) in the men's pair. Malcolm Howard (2001) rowed in the Canadian men's eight. Pete and Jamie are in a new combination from last year and are preparing to race in the Olympic Qualifier starting this Sunday in Poland. Making it to the B Final, the new crew raced well, placing third behind Australia and Germany. Dave and Scott, rowing in their first event together made it to the final with the fastest time in the semis. Racing against last year's World Champions from Australia and 2007 world silver medalists from New Zealand, the cards were stacked up against the Canadian pair. Canada jumped out in front and never relenquished their lead in winning their first world cup together. On the FISA website Dave was quoted “New Zealand really came up at us at the end of the race, I don´t know what the final margin was, but it must have been close. We still have to qualify in Poznan so we are in our top shape when the others will peak in 2 months, but it´s still good to beat them here.” Dave and Scott will be racing this weekend in Poland looking for a spot on the 2008 Canadian Olympic team. Malcolm sits in five seat of the 2007 World Champion Canadian eight. His crew led from start to finish, winning by three seconds over the Chinese and Great Britain. Malcolm and his eight has already qualified for the Olympics. Their next race will be this August in Beijing where they will be going into the Olympic Regatta as the odds-on favorites to win the gold medal.