Penrith, AUSTRALIA - In the first international event of the season, the United States won medals in five of the six events it entered at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup March 22-24 at the Sydney International Regatta Center in Penrith, Australia.
The U.S. won silver in the women's pair, women's quadruple sculls, women's eight and men's eight, and bronze in the women's single sculls. Host nation Australia topped the medals table with gold in four events.
In the first final of the morning, the women's quad of Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) edged out New Zealand by 0.24 seconds for silver with a time of 6:26.51. Australia won gold in 6:21.94. Two hours later, Lofgren and Musnicki returned for a fifth-place finish in the final of the women's double.
Two-time Olympic gold medalists Logan and Francia returned to race in the afternoon final of the women's single. Francia, who finished third in her heat and won the repechage race Saturday, crossed the line in fourth place (7:46.65). Logan, who won her heat en route to the final, took bronze with a time of 7:41.18. Australia's Kim Crow won gold in 7:35.80, with China's Bin Tang in second (7:39.23).
Next up in the women's pair, the U.S. entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) won silver with a time of 7:07.77. Coming off a six-second heat win on Friday, the pair finished second to Great Britain's Polly Swann and Helen Glover, who won gold in a 7:03.55. Australia won bronze in a 7:12.32.
Lind and Musnicki won their second silver medals of the regatta in the stern pair of the U.S. women's eight, a mix of young and veteran athletes eager to prove themselves on the world stage. The crew of coxswain Leigh Carroll (Sherborn, Mass.), Lind, Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.), Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Sara Hendershot (West Simsbury, Conn.), Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.) fell short of a gold medal, however, finishing second in a 6:07.83 to Australia's 6:06.98 and ending the United States' seven-year winning streak in the event. Canada took the bronze medal with a 6:10.47.
In the men's eight, coxswain Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Michael Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Stephen Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.), Brandon Shald (Sausalito, Calif.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), David Banks (Potomac, Md.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) won the silver medal with a time of 5:31.73 to Great Britain's winning time of 5:29.90.
The 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup is being run in conjunction with the inaugural Sydney International Rowing Regatta. The "Festival of Rowing" was held March 18-24 at the Sydney International Regatta Center in Penrith. View results here.
Australia is the first stop of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup circuit. The second stage will be held June 21-23 in Eton, Great Britain. The final stage will take place July 12-14 in Lucerne, Switzerland.