BEIJING - Canadian rowers Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen have captured a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.
The duo finished second in the men's pair in a time of six minutes 39.55 seconds, the country's first official trip to the podium at these Games.
"We went on the water today hoping to have our best race and we did," said Frandsen. "It's really satisfying."
Australia won gold in 6:37.44, while New Zealand took bronze in 6:44.19.
"I'm really proud of it and Scott is really proud of it," said Calder. "The Australians had a great push through the middle. We pushed back a little bit but congratulations to them. They definitely deserved that. We're very happy with a silver medal today."
Calder, a native of Victoria, rowed in the men's pair four years ago in Athens. They were disqualified from the semifinal for leaving their lane.
"This has been a whole different story the whole way along," he said. "Today is more satisfaction for having a good piece (race) and winning a medal rather than atoning for past losses."
Frandsen, of Kelowna, B.C., was a member of the men's eight that finished fifth in Athens. He said winning Canada's first medal wasn't in his mind entering the final.
"It wasn't really part of our thought process going in because that's just un-needed pressure," said Frandsen. "It's great to get Canada on the board."
Canada will race in four more finals on Sunday, including the men's eight. Canada is the defending world champion in that event and is considered a gold medal favourite.
Others racing finals Sunday are the women's eight, the lightweight men's four and the lightweight women's double.
