The Evening Times Globe, 1985

By: Francis Campbell

New Brunswick rowers will be competing in 12 of the 13 competition finals to be run Thursday and Friday at the Renforth Rowing and Canoe Club on the Kennebecasis River.

Eight New Brunswick rowing teams finished first or second in Tuesday's repechage round to put them into the medal races, along with the four boats that automatically moved into the medal round by finishing first in Monday's heats.

Dave McKenna of East Riverside won his single sculls race with a time of 5:57.88 seconds and combined with teammates for the first place finishes in the cox four and cox eight.

McKenna said it was a good day for New Brunswick.

"There was no wind at all. We're coming together in the smooth water. I thought it would be to out advantage to have rough water because a lot of other teams train in smooth water, but we can give 'em a go in rough."

McKenna said he had a lot of trouble Monday with the rigging in his single sculls heat, but he changed it Tuesday and used longer oars.

The eights have a good chance at a bronze or better, he said, and the pairs, straight fours and quads have very good chances for gold medals.

McKenna said he was happy just to make the finals in the single sculls, an event he picked up only this year.

The three races in little more than an hour tired the 17-year-old rower.

"I was okay in the fours but I was pretty tired in the eights after the single."

The men's double skulls team of Dave and Don Dickison won a protested race to advance to the finals. Manitoba and Ontario, the teams involved in the protest, will rave again today.

Tanya Wolstenholme of Fredericton guided her single scull to a second place finish behind Ontario.

Leslie Fellows and Natalie Folster, the women's straight paid, got a ticket to the finals when Manitoba and Quebec did not race.

The women's quad team of Jennifer Jardine, Jayne Phillips, Tina Thanisch and Tanya Wolstenholme finished behind Manitoba in their heat, but both teams with advance to the final.

The women's eight with cox, the Monster Crew, took their heat in a time of 5:30.24

The women's double sculls team of Jennifer Jardine and Tanya Wolstenholme was the only New Brunswick entry not to gain a final berth.

The New Brunswick finalists will be joined by 12 from British Columbia, at least 11 Ontario boats pending the outcome of today's double sculls race with Manitoba, 10 Quebec entries, and nine Alberta teams.

Rowing continues today on the Kennebecasis, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Today's heats, with the exception of the Ontario-Manitoba race, are finals for the rowers who failed to qualify for the medal races.