LONDON - Canadian rowers Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen are leaving the London Olympics empty-handed.
Calder and Frandsen finished last in the men's coxless pair Friday at the Olympic regatta, a disappointing result after the Canadians won silver at the 2008 Games.
Their time of six minutes 30.49 seconds was nowhere near gold-medal winning New Zealand, which dominated in 6:16.65. France won the silver, while Britain took bronze.
The pair were surprised with the result, considering they thought their pace was competitive.
"It's tough to nail down," said Frandsen. "It felt like we had a pretty solid piece (going). We got into a really lively rhythm at 39 strokes a minute, 40. It felt pretty efficient. It just wasn't there."
Frandsen, from Kelowna, B.C., and Calder, a Victoria native, initially retired after the Beijing Games, but felt compelled to return to the sport.
Their return to the Olympics was overshadowed by the dominant Kiwis, who led by 5.2 seconds after 1,500 metres and preserved their career unbeaten record.
Elsewhere at the Olympics:
— Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, B.C., moved into the men's shot put final after finishing third in his qualifying group. Justin Rodhe, also from Kamloops, fouled all three attempts to miss the final.
— Victoria's Ryan Cochrane advanced to the men's 1,500 freestyle swimming final. He easily won his heat and qualified third overall. Cochrane won bronze in the event at the 2008 Olympics.
— Montreal's Victoria Poon was fifth in her heat to advance to the women's 50-metre freestyle semifinals.
— Canada's qualified eighth for Saturday's final in the 4x100 medley. The women's team meanwhile missed the final with a sixth-place finish in their heat.
— Saskatoon shooter Cory Niefer was 38th with 589 points in qualifying to miss out on a spot in the men's 50-metre rifle prone final.
— Jenna Martin of Bridgewater, N.S., ran 51.98 seconds in the women's 400 to qualify in a tie for 14th overall ahead of Saturday's semifinal.
© The Canadian Press, 2013