Canada's rowers win 4 medals at 1st World Cup of 2016

This weekend marked the first rowing World Cup of the 2016 season, and Canada did not come away empty handed.

Athletes from 47 countries gathered in Varese, Italy, for competition in cold weather, while rain and flat water caused delays in Sunday's programme.

Despite the conditions, Canada's rowers hauled in four medals, putting them at 27 World Cup points.

Zeeman wins Canada's only gold 

In a surprising twist in women's single sculls, Pan Am gold medallist and Rio-bound rower Carling Zeeman from Cambridge, Ont., won gold. Zeeman finished sixth in this event in 2015 and was up against Olympic champion and race-favourite Mirka Knapkova from the Czech Republic.

However, when Knapkova failed to  make the A-final, the race came down to the final sprint between Zeeman and Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus. 

Zeeman pulled ahead and finished first with a time of seven minutes, 49.410 seconds. Karsten finished with silver while Ireland walked away with bronze.

"Every 500 metres I looked across and everyone was in a straight line," Zeeman said. "I know I have a very strong finish, so I knew I could make a move."

Sauks snaps oar, still wins silver

Katherine Sauks' pre-race ritual definitely didn't go to plan. She had to swap boats last minute due to equipment issues right before Saturday's lightweight single sculls final, causing a delay in the race.

But Sauks didn't let the distraction get the best of her and wound up on the podium. She won silver, finishing behind race-favourite Marieke Keijser of the Netherlands. Italy won bronze. 

"I broke an oar in the warm-up and that is why the race was delayed, so I am especially proud of my result," Sauks said. "I would like to think I could have done better if this hadn't happened, but of course, you never know."

Less than a second off 2nd gold

The Canadians were the highest ranking crew in the women's eight line up; they finished third at the world rowing championships, are the current World Cup holders, and also have their spot in the 2016 Summer Games.

Canada hit the 500m mark first and held the lead for most of the race, leaving the Netherlands and Russia to battle it out in the second and third-place positions. But both countries caught up in the final sprint and the Netherlands pushed past Canada to take gold with a time of 6:22:380; Canada won silver at 6:22:620. 

"We would have loved to be the ones in the middle of the podium, but it's still early in the season so there is still lots of speed to gain," Canada's Lauren Wilkinson said.

Men's quad's strong start puts them on podium

Canada pulled in another silver in the men's quadruple sculls. Canada had the early lead but were overtaken by the eventual gold medallists of team Russia. Canada pulled past Poland to win the silver medal with a time of 6:04:920. Canada's men's quad team will be back in Italy soon for a training camp.

"There are five people in our quad squad. It doesn't really feel like competition. We race really hard against each other, but we have each other's backs," quad team member Will Dean said of his crew.

"We are working toward the Olympic qualification in Lucerne."