World rowing championships: Canada qualifies 3 boats for Rio

Canada qualified three boats for next year's Rio Olympics based on results Thursday at the world rowing championships in Aiguebelette, France.

The lightweight women's double sculls team of Patricia Obee and Lindsay Jennerich won its semifinal heat to move on to the final and clinch an Olympic spot.

At 6:57.02, the Victoria natives posted the fastest overall time in the three semis, putting them among the favourites in Saturday's final.

"Our race was perfectly executed," said Jennerich "At the 400-metre mark we slipped into a great rhythm, it felt really good. At that point, I knew we were going to move onto the final."

The women's pair of Toronto's Jennifer Martins and Cristy Nurse of Georgetown, Ont., crossed the line third in its semifinal heat to advance to the final and secure an Olympic berth.

The men's four team of Will Crothers (Kingston, Ont.), Tim Schrijver (Forest, Ont.), Kai Langerfeld (Parksville, B.C.) and Conlin McCabe (Brockville, Ont.) was also third in its semi, good enough to advance to the final and earn a spot in Rio.

Canadians also took part in other semifinals Thursday:

- The men's pair of Michael Evans and Martin Barakso finished sixth in its heat, sending them to the B final.

- The men's quadruple sculls boat finished fifth in its heat, also putting them in the B final.

- The women's double sculls team of Kate Goodfellow and Antje Von Seydlitz finished fourth in its heat, moving on to the D final. Goodfellow and Seydlitz had already been eliminated from contention for a spot in the final.

- Katherine Sauks was sixth in her lightweight women's sculls semi, moving her to the B final.

This year's world championships, which continue through Sunday, represent the first chance for countries to qualify crews for next year's Olympics.

Countries can secure boats for Rio in the following ways:

- Women's eight: Top-five finish

- Men's quad sculls: Top-eight finish

- Single sculls: Top-nine finish

- All other events: Top-11 finish

Para crew wins bronze

Canada's legs/trunk/arms mixed coxed four crew picked up a bronze medal in the para portion of the events in France.

The newly formed team of Victoria Nolan, Veronique Boucher, Curtis Halladay, Andrew Todd and coxswain Kristen Kit secured a spot at next summer's Rio Paralympics in the process.

"It still doesn't feel quite real," said Todd. "We had a great race."