Men's eight rowing crew add to Canada's medal haul with silver at London Games

LONDON - Canada has added a silver medal to its collection of bronze at the London Olympics.

The men's eight rowing crew bulldozed the field in the final 500 metres to finish second Wednesday behind the dominant Germans and ahead of Britain.

The Canadian eight won gold at the 2008 Games in Beijng but only have three returning members of that crew — Toronto's Andrew Byrnes, Victoria's Malcolm Howard and Price of Belleville, Ont. — in the London boat.

"When we won gold in Beijing, we were expected to, we knew we could," said Canadian coxswain Brian Price. "I said to my wife a year ago if we win a medal, it's going to be even more special to me. Because it's had to be developed, it's had to be developed literally from the ground up."

The other members of the Canadian eight are Will Crothers and Rob Gibson of Kingston, Ont., Jeremiah Brown of Cobourg, Ont., Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont., Doug Csima of Oakville, Ont., and Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House, B.C.

Canada had a sluggish start to the regatta, finishing last in its heat and effectively shutting down late in the race. But the Canadians bounced back to place second in their repechage behind Britain and advance to the final.

Canada has four bronzes in diving, judo and weightlifting.

The Canadian women's eight goes for gold Thursday, with the Americans their main gold medal rivals.

Earlier in the day, Victoria's Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen of Kelowna, B.C., advanced to the final of the men's pairs, while Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que., and Morgan Jarvis of Clearwater Bay, Ont., moved on to Saturday's C final of the lightweight double sculls.

Cyclist Clara Hughes, meanwhile, capped her Olympic career with a fifth-place finish in the women's time trial.

Hughes, a six-time medallist at the Games, was almost a minute behind gold medal winner Kristin Armstrong. She seemed satisfied with her final Olympic performance.

"I knew today, I knew in the last week, in the last month that this is the last time I would have the chance to race in the Olympics," Hughes said. "I'm really proud of what I did."

Denise Ramsden of Yellowknife finished 19th.

Hughes, from Glen Sutton, Que., and long-track speedskating teammate Cindy Klassen share the honour of being the country's most decorated Olympians. Hughes won two cycling medals at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and has won four speedskating medals over the last three Winter Games.

Victoria native and Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal was Canada's lone competitor in the men's 44-kilometre time trial, which began shortly after the women's race.

In the pool, Canada advanced to the final of the women's 4x200-metre freestyle relay with the third fastest time.

It was part of a strong showing for Canada, as four of five Canadian swimmers advanced to the semifinals.

Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont., was third in her 100 freestyle heat, while and advanced with a time of 54.16.

Martha McCabe of Toronto was third in her 200-metre breaststroke heat to earn a spot in the semis. She finished 13th overall.

In the men's 200-metre individual medley, Andrew Ford of Guelph, Ont., made the cut for the semifinal by finishing 16th.

Toronto's Tobias Oriwol also advanced in the men's 200-metre backstroke. He qualified with the 11th fastest time in 1:58.06.

Tera Van Beilin of Oakville, Ont., was seventh in her heat and did not move on.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012