PLOVDID, Bulgaria – Jeremy Hall of St. Paul, Alta., and Canada’s mixed coxed four-team are headed to the repechages after the first day of Para rowing events Monday at the world rowing championships.
In the PR2 men’s singles, Hall raced to a third-place finish and fourth-best time overall in his opening heat covering the 2000m in nine minutes and 07.030 seconds. Laurence Whiteley of Britain won the heat in 8:43.701 and Daniele Stefanoni of Italy was second in 8:52.080.
The winner of each of the two heats advances to the A Final and the rest head to the repechage on Wednesday.
"I definitely didn't race to my potential today,’’ said Hall, a two-time national champion in both Para rowing and Para ice hockey. ‘’I need to stay in my lane and focus on the right things going forward. I lost speed by not concentrating on my plan and what needed to get done in the boat. I know the upcoming rep will help me adjust some of those pieces and I'll be much better set up for finals."
In the PR2 classification, rowers use trunk and arms and are unable to use their legs to push a sliding seat. There is strapping around the legs to provide stability.
In the Para PR3 mixed coxed four-team – Victoria Nolan of Toronto, Bayleigh Hooper of Peterborough, Ont., Andrew Todd of Ottawa, Kyle Fredrickson of Victoria and coxswain Laura Court of St. Catharines, Ont. – took second spot in their first heat in 7:23.080, the fourth fastest overall.
Canada raced a strong heat, surpassing Ukraine at the 1000m mark yet couldn't gain momentum on the United States, who finished first in 7:12.840. Again the two heat winners got a direct ticket to the final while the others head to the repechage on Thursday.
Todd and Nolan were part of Canada’s bronze-medal winning crew at the 2016 Paralympic Games.
In the PR3 classification, rowers can use legs, trunk, and arms and can push a sliding seat.
For more information and streaming: www.worldrowing.com.
