The event, which featured teams from nine nations, was touted as a preview for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing, and the U.S. Olympic Committee gave permission for organizers to use the Olympic rings at the venue.

The U.S. women won the 2,000-meter eights race in 6:43.68, about 5 seconds ahead of Canada. Australia was third, another second back.

"The wind was quite crazy, but exciting," said Susan Francia, a member of the U.S. women's team. "Those are the kind of conditions in which we try to row, technically, our best. We try not to let the conditions get the best of us."

Canada won the 2,000-meter men's race in 5:54.92 seconds, holding off a late rally to finish about 3 seconds ahead of the U.S., which had pulled within less than a boat length by race's end. Teams from the Czech Republic and Mexico finished well behind the two leaders.

The winning time in the women's race was more than 26 seconds slower than the time posted by the U.S. squad six weeks ago in the world championships in Munich, and the finish for the Canadian men was 20 seconds slower than in Munich.

Rowers attributed the slower speeds to the south wind, which blew over the east-west course at about 25 mph consistently, with gusts to 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

"I hope Beijing is not quite this windy," Francia said.

But while rowers said the wind was difficult to deal with, the experience of doing so could prove valuable in the future.

"It's always good to get practice in these situations," said Ben Rutledge, a returning member of the Canadian men's team that finished fifth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. "They cause extra stress, and when that happens, you start to forget about things that are actually more important."

Teams from the U.S. and Canada dominated most of the event's other races, finishing 1-2 in the team events. The U.S. won the men's quads, men's doubles and women's doubles, and Canada won in women's quads, women's pairs and men's pairs.

Rowers from New Zealand swept the singles, with Mahe Drysdale winning the men's race over countryman Nathan Cohen by less than a second and Emma Dtwigg posting a 3.8-second win over Anna Marie Dezwager of Canada.