POZNAN, Poland - Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder won their men's pairs semifinal to become one of three Canadian crews Tuesday advancing to the finals at the Olympic qualification regatta.
Frandsen, from Kelowna, B.C., and Calder, from Victoria, finished in a time of 6:28.80 over China and Switzerland, who also move to the final.
They join the Czech Republic, Italy and Spain for Wednesday's final to determine two Olympic berths.
"This is very different from any other regatta, a lot is riding on this and it's definitely cut-throat," said Frandsen, a member of the men's eight in the last Olympics. "There are three or four really strong crews and it will be a fight right to the line tomorrow."
Peter Dembicki of West Vancouver, Robert Gibson of Kingston, Ont., Kristopher (Kip) McDaniel of Cobble Hill, B.C., and Jamie Faris of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., won the men's four race in 5:57.48.
They'll need a top-two finish Wednesday to earn a trip to Beijing.
"We're going to have to go out there and find speed earlier in the race, and keep our composure right to the finish," said Faris. "We had a good race today and tomorrow we have to do it again, but with more of an edge, and with that extra push and fire that it will take to be in the top two."
The lightweight men's double of Douglas Vandor of Dewittville, Que., and Cameron Sylvester of Caledon, Ont., won its semi in 6:23.59, followed by the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
They'll line up with New Zealand, Portugal and Spain on Wednesday with three Olympic entries up for grabs.
"We've found that we are improving as a crew with each race, so it was probably good to get that extra race under our belts," said Sylvester. "New Zealand has been dominant here, but we have been improving with each race and we're looking forward to following this trend through to tomorrow's final."
The men's quad and women's eight will also be competing in Wednesday's finals.