MUNICH, Germany - The U.S. lightweight women's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, and lightweight men's pair all won their heats on Thursday, the first day of competition at the 2004 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup Regatta in Munich, Germany. In total, 11 U.S. crews raced in the heats on Thursday.
The lightweight women's double sculls duo of Stacey Borgman (Homer, Alaska) and Sarah Hirst (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) inched one step closer to qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Games by winning its heat on Thursday. Borgman and Hirst earned the right to race for a spot on the Olympic team in Munich by winning the lightweight women's double sculls at USRowing's National Selection Regatta 2 in April in West Windsor, N.J. If the crew finishes in the top four in Germany, then they make the Olympic team. If it does not finish in the top four, the event will be opened up to the second set of Olympic Trials, which will be held June 26-July 1 in West Windsor.
Racing in the third of four heats, Borgman and Hirst clocked a 7:12.98, the third fastest time of the day, to defeat Ireland by less than one second. The Irish crew stroked a 7:13.86, followed by Hungary, Greece and Switzerland. The victory gave the U.S. tandem an automatic berth into Friday's semifinals. Other heat winners advancing directly to the semifinals were Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Like Borgman and Hirst, the men's double sculls tandem of Henry Nuzum (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Aquil Abdullah (Washington, D.C.) also have the opportunity to make the Olympic team by finishing in the top four in Munich. Racing in the second of two heats, Nuzum and Abdullah finished second behind 2003 World Champions Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy of France. The French tandem clocked a 6:29.32, while the U.S. duo finished with a time of 6:35.23. The second-place finish forced Nuzum and Abdullah to race in an afternoon repechage, or second-chance race. In the repechage, the duo clocked a 6:37.22 to again finish second, this time to Estonia. The finish allowed Nuzum and Abdullah to advance to Friday's semifinals. In addition to France, the other heat winners included Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Italy.
For the other U.S. crews competing in Munich, the event does not serve as an Olympic qualifier but is a chance to test their speed and continue the selection process as the Olympics loom less than three months away.
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Danika Holbrook (Durham, N.H.), Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio), Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.), and Hilary Gehman (Wolfeboro, N.H.) made its world cup debut on Thursday a successful one by winning the second of two heats. The U.S. boat clocked a 6:44.49 to finish more than four seconds ahead of the Netherlands. The victory gave the U.S. a berth in Saturday's final. Germany won the other heat in a time of 6:37.50.
The four women in the quadruple sculls also raced the double sculls heats. Racing in the first of three heats, Guerette and Holbrook finished second behind the defending world champions from New Zealand, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell. The Evers-Swindell sisters clocked a 7:11.04, while Guerette and Holbrook stroked a 7:15.27. Salchow and Gehman finished fourth in the same heat, finishing in a 7:19.49. The top three finishers in each heat, which included Guerette and Holbrook, advanced directly to Friday's semifinals, while Salchow and Gehman had to race in the afternoon repechage. In the repechage, the U.S. crew clocked a 7:16.94 to finish second behind Hungary, joining its teammates in the semifinals. The other heat winners included Great Britain and Germany.
Steve Warner (Livonia, Mich.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) easily won their heat of the lightweight men's pair. Racing in the first of two heats, the duo clocked a 7:13.49 to finish more than four seconds ahead of Japan. Germany won the second heat in a time of 7:12.34. The two heat winners advanced directly to Saturday's final.
The U.S. has three entries in the 11-crew women's pair field. Racing in heat one, Maite Urtasun (Riverside, N.J.) and Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) clocked a 7:44.23 to finish less than three second behind Canada. The Canadian pair clocked a 7:41.70. In the second heat, Lianne Nelson (Seattle, Wash.) and Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.) finished second, while Kate MacKenzie (Novi, Mich.) and Katie Hammes (La Crosse, Wis.) finished third. Great Britain's Cath Bishop and Katherine Grainger, the defending world champions, won the second heat in a time of 7:38.44. Nelson and Davies finished 2.29 seconds back, with a 7:40.73, while MacKenzie and Hammes stroked a 7:42.37. All three U.S. crews will race in repechages on Friday.
The lightweight men's four of Mike Altman, Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.), Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.), and Pat Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished third in the second of three heats but advanced directly to Friday's semifinals. The quartet clocked a 6:21.40 to finish 1.37 seconds behind the heat winners from Germany. Canada finished second, 0.24 seconds ahead of the U.S. Other heat winners included Ireland and Austria.
In the women's single sculls, Dana Peirce (Richmond, Va.) finished fourth in the second of two heats. Two-time Olympic champion Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus won the second heat, clocking an 8:04.7. Peirce finished in an 8:25.63. The Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova won the other heat, stroking a 7:56.47. Peirce will race in a repechage on Friday.
Racing continues Friday with more repechages and semifinals. Finals are scheduled for Saturday.