BELGRADE, Serbia - The heat is on for crews competing at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta on Lake Sava in Belgrade, Serbia this weekend. Finals are set for Saturday in four adaptive events, with the top two boats in each category earning Paralympic qualification.
Two U.S. crews are scheduled to race in the finals - arms and shoulders women's single sculler Dana Fink (Atlanta, Ga.) and the trunk and arms mixed double sculls crew of Rob Jones (Lovettsville, Va.) and Oksana Masters (Buffalo, N.Y.).
"My goal is to make top two here in the finals as it is the last opportunity to qualify for London," said Fink. "There is definitely some tough international competition, which is really exciting because it shows how far adaptive rowing has come in such a short time. At this point, we have all put in the work over the last few months and for me it is just about performing as I know I can."
Fink finished second in her repechage Friday to earn a spot in the final. Coming off of Thursday's third-place finish in the heats, the U.S. sculler covered the 1,000-meter course in 6:27.34. South Africa's Sandra Khumalo won the race in 6:14.57. Joining them in Saturday's final, scheduled for 5:50 p.m. local time, will be Russia, Canada, Japan and Hungary.
In the trunk and arms double, Jones and Masters are the top seed going into the final. The duo won Thursday's race for lanes and will line up with Argentina, The Netherlands, Brazil and Russia in the final, scheduled for 6:14 p.m. local time.