Delta rowers Brendan Hodge and Maxwell Lattimer have secured their boat in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
The lightweight four members helped Canada grab the final Olympic spot up for grabs at the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France. After a week of consistent races, the crew used a late surge to book their ticket to Rio next summer.
Canada finished fifth in the consolation final but, more importantly, had the 11th fastest time overall time (5:58.67) of the 22 competing countries to earn the last Olympic qualifying spot.
Canada won bronze at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing but did not qualify four years later in London.
Lattimer, who sits in bowseat, was happy with the way the crew moved in their final race.
"It felt really good the whole way down, but especially in the third quarter," explained the 22-year-old from Ladner. "We even started making up ground on the leaders."
The Canadians headed to France after winning gold at the Pan American Games
where they held off the United States for victory.
Lattimer is one of the country's top up-and-coming rowers who was identified by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Ben Rutledge during a Team B.C. identification camp in his Grade 11 year at Vancouver College.
Hodge, 30, resumed his international rowing career after being focused on his university studies for several years, attending Harvard, then law school at UBC.
Hodge and Lattimer are joined in the shell by Ontario's Nicolas Pratt and and Eric Woelfl. The team is coached by Al Morrow and based out of Rowing Canada's High Performance Centre in London, Ontario.
