The track in Varese stayed fast for the rest of the U23 heats today--warm water and a rising tailwind as the bigger boats got on the course will do that. The GB Men's Eight won their heat, over the USA, going 1:19 - 1:20 - 1:22 - 1:23 (according to some rough row2k newsroom math)--a blistering pace that left the US headed to the rep, despite posting a 5:30 time that would have been a full length (plus!) clear of the Australian eight that won the other heat.
All that fast water only produced one new World's Best Time, though. For the record, the WBT crew this morning was the AUS W4+, which lowered the mark by a full 10 seconds (to 6:52.19)..and this in what was "just" a preliminary "race for lanes." The USA entry, helmed by Caroline Ricksen and which also went under the previous WBT, took 3rd but, of course, the gloves will be off when the six crews in the event race for real--and for medals--on Friday.
USA Gets Out The Sweeps
The big successes for the USA on the first full day in Varsese belonged to the sweepers:
The Men's U23 Eight, Men's U23 Four/with, and both open weight pairs are going the Rep route, and hoping to use a successful race Wednesday afternoon to get back in the medals mix. The USA is not fielding a straight four on the men's side.
BM8+ coxswain Jack DiGiovanni had this to say to row2k after that blistering race with the GB squad:
"It is always an exciting opportunity to line up against other crews and race. We feel good about our execution today, and our crew has a lot of strengths to build off of as we work through the week. We look forward to the racing ahead."
Setting the Standard
Getting the first race "out of the way" by posting an epic time is the way pretty much any crew would like to start a World Championship.
When your crew is looking to match a gold medal row by its previous incarnation, it might be even more satisfying, and that was the case for the U23 Women's Eight and their coxswain, Texas' Rachel Rane today:
"I've really enjoyed getting to work with this crew," said Rane. "They're such a strong and powerful group of women that love to just put their heads down and go. It's awesome to see all of our different experiences and personalities come together in about 3 weeks."
"I think all the work that we did in Charlottesville and the past couple days in Varese prepared us well for our first 2k at max today. For a few of us, (myself, Lanie Nitsch and Maddie Moore), it was our international debut, so I thought as a collective we did a good job staying relaxed and in tune with our boat. There are definitely some things we would like to fine tune so we're excited to get back to work tomorrow morning."
The other crew with a notable "here's what we got, how 'bout you?" fast time today was Rane's Texas teammates who are here racing the Women's Straight Four: Kaitlin Knifton, Francesca Raggi, Anna Jensen and Caitlin Esse. The last time we saw these four in action, Knifton and Raggi were the stern pair of the NCAA-winning eight, with Jensen in the four seat, while Esse was the bow of the Texas 2V that took fourth in the NCAA Grand Final.
Stroke Knifton had this to say after the row:
"It was great to shake out the nerves and complete our first race today. Everyone executed the race plan and their individual role well, and we were very happy with how it went overall. However we are always looking for ways to improve and excited about the opportunity to race again Saturday."
"It is so special getting to race for Team USA with my teammates from Texas. Being a collegiate athlete is very challenging, and my teammates are [the ones] who I experience my highest highs and lowest lows with. Our boat has a very special bond: not only spending the summer but the entire year, two years, or even four years training together, and getting to go through this experience with them is very unique. My teammates are like family to me and I have been so grateful to have this opportunity to race on the international stage with them!"
Sculling Crews Taking It Through The Reps
All of the USA scullers today with heats wound up Rep-bound: both Heavy Doubles and both Light Doubles, both Heavy Quads, and the Light Men's Quad.
The Light Women's Quad, like the BW4+, have a preliminary race today--in which they took 4th--but they will race for medals on Friday in the four boat field entered this year.
Amongst those crews--if not the entire US U23 fleet--the Light Men's Quad turned in the race of the day: though just out of the 1 qualifying spot--grabbed early by Italy, the US BML4x dueled the French crew all the way down the course, trading the lead and--in the end--taking third in 5:57. All three crews went under the time the Swiss used (6:01) to edge the Danes in the next heat. The USA, France, and Denmark all head to the reps tomorrow, but the US crew earned some real "course cred" with the row.
"We felt we rowed our race well," said 3 seat Eli Rabinowitz, "moving the boat exactly how we wanted to. We were in the pack for the bulk of the race with Italy pulling out to an early lead. Us and the French battled it out in the last 500, just coming up short. We're really pleased with how we rowed and are really excited to race again tomorrow in the rep!"
U23 Singles PM Rep Report
The single scullers who had to rep went back to the line in the afternoon session, where the heat was hitting 35 celsius (which converts to, um, HOT).
Nick Aronow in the Light Men's Single had the best go on the afternoon, moving onto the Semis behind the Uzbekistani sculler, Sobirjon Safaroliyev, and well ahead of Spain's Gerard Sune Tanco.
Both Ella Barry and Izzie Begley in the BW1x and BLW1x are headed to the C/D Semi: Barry was edged into third by just a couple of seconds by Peru's Adriana Maria Sanguineti Velasco, while Begley was well behind the German and Algerian scullers who grabbed the two spots on offer in her Repechage.
U19s Up Next on Wednesday
The U19--aka Athletes-Formerly-Known-As-Juniors--take over the course Wednesday morning with heats in six events: JM2-, JM4x, JW2x, JM2x, and both Junior Singles events. The U23's get the course back in the afternoon for Reps and the BM1x Quarterfinals, starring USA's Isaiah Harrison.
The morning racing will be in the books by 6:30 or so Eastern again, so you can head right to results--listed by event under the Results tab--here on the World Rowing site...or you can look for the Daily Results Summary when we get it and put it up on the row2k results page later in the day. The U23 racing starts (or started!) at 8 am Eastern.
Notes from the Course
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