Canada won its second silver medal in the coxless men's four in a nail-biting photo finish.

The crew of Cam Baerg, Tom Herschmiller, Jake Wetzel and Barney Williams finished only 8-100ths of a second behind the gold medal-winning crew from Great Britain.

"We went up against legends and we nearly did it," Wetzel said Saturday. "It's heartbreaking to lose by 8-100ths of a second but, at the same time, it's the first time a (Canadian men's four) has done this in many, many Olympics."

Briton Matthew Pinsent won a gold in his fourth consecutive Olympics.

"I think he proved today he's one of the greatest rowers of all time," Williams said of his rival. "It was a privilege to row with him."

"Would we remember this as a heartbreaking loss? I think we'll remember this as a fantastic race."

Baerg, 31, of Saskatoon, Herschmiller, 26, of Comox, B.C., Wetzel, 27, of Saskatoon, and Williams, 27, of Salt Spring Island, B.C., were leading the race by a half-second coming into the final 500 metres.

The final sprint led to one of the most exciting finishes in recent rowing competitions, with the Canadians edged out in the final sprint by the British crew of Pinsent, Steve Williams, James Cracknell and Ed Coode. Italy took the bronze.

The medal is the first in men's heavyweight fours since the 1956 crew's gold medal performance. The 1924 team bronze.

Williams' wife Buffy and her partner Darcy Marquardt of Richmond, B.C. came just short of a medal in the women's pairs, finishing fourth in the final.

"We gave it our all," said Marquardt.

"We can't be disappointed with what we did," Williams said. "You always want a medal ... but we put our best effort forth and we can't ask for more."

The pair entered the final 500 metres in second, but faded after a brilliant start.

Georgeta Damian and Viorica Susanu of Romania took the lead at the 1,000 metre mark and never relinquished it, taking gold. World champions Katherine Grainger and Cath Bishop of Britain finished two seconds behind for silver, with Yuliya Bichyk and Natallia Helakh of Belarus taking bronze.

The Williams' say they are going to take some time off from their hectic training schedules to actually see each other.

"I'm a little bit frustrated that I haven't been able to spend as much time with her as I want at these Games," Barney said.

"But when we both crossed the line today I feel like we both gave our best and that's what you have to do in order to succeed. You have to make sacrifices."

The couple will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in September and are both headed to Oxford University to continue their studies.

The rowing competition ends Sunday with the world-champion Canadian men's eight and the men's lightweight four.

In the men's pairs final Donovan Cech and Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa won bronze. The Canadian crew of Dave Calder of Victoria and Chris Jarvis of St. Catharines, Ont., were disqualified in the semifinal and lost their appeal. The South Africans supported their bid to be reinstated and included in a seven-boat final.