The Saint John Times Globe, Monday, August 13, 2001
Canada Games
N.B. rowers get feet wet this morning
By Aaron Kennedy, Sports Week
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'They're well prepared.' Tracy Fraser, Coach |
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Bright and early at 7:30 this morning, the boats hit the water of Fanshawe Lake as the rowing competition began in earnest at the Canada Summer Games in London, Ont.
The majority of the members of the New Brunswick men's team, which is coached by Tracy Fraser, are from the Kennebecasis Valley. In addition to Fraser, the other locals are Andrew Munro of Quispamsis, Rothesay's Mike Owens, Drew Simson, Ryley Greene, Ian Edwards, Duncan Beattie, and Mike Thorne, along with Kamil Sheikh and Joel Mazerolle of Saint John and Jadan Harding of Dipper Harbour.
"They've really come together," Fraser said. "They're working well together as a team. They're well prepared."
The early wake-up call today might be a good thing for the squad as the London area has been hit by the same heat wave that has enveloped the rest of southern Ontario.
"That's actually something that I've been watching because it is an outdoor sport and there's no opportunity to go indoors to compete," she said. "The weather will play a factor if it continues to be as hot as it has been."
Locals on the women's team are Katie Reynolds and April Nason of Saint John along with Laura Penny, Meghan Hartlen, and Erin Palmer of Rothesay.
Although Fraser didn't discuss medal opportunities or the like, she's still very optimistic about her squad's chances.
"It's a group with a lot of potential," she said. "Some of them have a little more experience than others but we've really bonded well and formed a strong team. In all the races and regattas that we've had so far, we've achieved a high level of success."
The men's team has confined most of its activities to Eastern Canada.
"We haven't traveled any farther west than Quebec, but we've done exceptionally well here and in Nova Scotia and in Montreal."
The New Brunswick men will row in six events in London.
"I'm anticipating a strong showing by everyone," Fraser said. "One of the goals is we want to achieve personal bests and high levels of success personally.
"We're not really focusing on finishing results at this point. We're just focusing on following our race plans and putting the training that we've been doing into work and hopefully that will get us the desired outcomes that we're looking for.
"The kids have been dominant in some of their regattas," Fraser added. "We're just hoping to continue on the adrenaline that we've had from the local regattas.
"This is it. This is what we've been training all year for. This is the big shebang."
There are days of preliminaries before the finals later in the week. "We have to go through a lot of heats and semis and what not first," Fraser explained. "But that's good because it gives us extra racing experience. We don't want too much because the weather has been extremely hot."
