It doesn't get much more tension-packed - or brutally final - than this.
Patricia Obee of Victoria and Tracy Cameron of Nova Scotia will race-off head-to-head today at 9: 30 a.m. on Elk Lake in singles boats for the right to claim the second seat in the Canadian women's lightweight double for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The winner of this morning's race goes to London, and a strongly probable medal scenario in the double with Lindsay Jennerich of Victoria, while the loser will be named alternate.
Claremont-grad Jennerich has been pre-selected for one of the two seats in the double. Jennerich and Cameron won gold at the 2010 world championships. With Cameron injured, Jennerich and 18-year-old Stelly's-grad Obee won silver at the 2011 worlds.
The double is the lone women's lightweight rowing event in the Olympics.
This has been done before on Elk Lake with the final seat in the Canadian men's eight for the 2008 Beijing Olympics also decided in a row-off between Brentwood College grad Scott Frandsen and Kevin Light of Victoria, although that was a timed trial.
"There's no fun way to do this and it [race-off] wasn't fun," said Light, who won the 2008 row-off and went on to win Olympic gold with the Canadian eight at Beijing.
"I took advantage of the team psychologist to deal with the stress leading up to the race-off day," said Light, now training for London.
