By Dan Kinvig. Slider-Rowing pic 2Kyle Krahn and Stephen Wall of the University of the Fraser Valley rowing team turned in a solid performance at the RBC National Rowing Championships, held Nov. 7-9 on Elk Lake in Victoria.
UFV Photo
The national regatta brings together the fastest rowers from each province, including Olympic and pre-Olympic athletes, and Krahn and Wall were selected to represent B.C. in the open men’s pairs.
The Cascades duo made their way through the heats, repechage and semifinals to qualify for the C final, where they finished in fifth place in a time of 6:57.9.
Featured-Rowing pic 1UFV rowing coach Liz Chisholm pointed out that qualifying for the C final was a noteworthy accomplishment, considering most of the competitors in the A and B finals were Olympic-calibre athletes.
Chilliwack native Krahn and Coquitlam product Wall were seeded second heading into the C final, but battled changing wind conditions and ended up fifth.
“Our guys had a fantastic repechage and semifinal on Saturday,” Chisholm said. “I was really excited that they made a nice placing in the C final.
“They got progressively faster, as you do when you’re racing those high-level athletes. They jumped ahead of a couple of crews (over the course of the regatta).
“It’s a huge experience leap for them, and to actually hit the marks that qualified them for selection into that event is a big step. They were so excited afterwards with what they could bring back to their crew, and their own development as well.”