LUCERNE, Switzerland - Five U.S. crews will try to earn berths to the 2004 Olympic Games at the 2004 Olympic Qualification Regatta June 13-16 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The U.S. failed to earn automatic berths for the Olympics in the men's single sculls, women's single sculls, women's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, and men's quadruple sculls at the 2003 World Championships; those five crews will now race in Lucerne for the right to go to Athens, Greece.
Conal Groom (Northford, Conn.), a 2000 Olympian in the lightweight men's double sculls, defeated Adam Holland in the men's single sculls at the first set of U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Rowing in mid May and now will take on 11 other scullers in Switzerland. The top three finishers in Lucerne will earn Olympic berths. Groom's top competition should come from Bulgaria's Ivo Yanakiev, who finished fifth in the event at the 2000 Olympics; Slovakia's Jan Ziska, a 2000 Olympian; and Belgium's Tim Maeyens, who won the bronze medal at the world cup stop in Munich in late May.
In the women's single sculls, Jennifer Devine (Portland, Ore.), a 1996 Olympian in the women's double sculls, will face 13 other scullers for the right to go to Athens. Devine easily won the U.S. trials in May. Her toughest competition at the qualifier should come from the Netherlands' Femke Dekker, who won a bronze medal in Munich. The top three finishers will earn Olympic berths.
Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Carol Skricki (Norwood, Mass.) will take on eight other crews in the women's double sculls. Skricki, an Olympian in the same event in Sydney, also had to use the qualifier to make the team in 2000. She and her partner, Ruth Davidon, went on to finish fourth at the Games. Piotrowski will be looking to make her first Olympic team. In Lucerne, the duo will need to finish in the top two in order to qualify for the Olympics. Skricki and Piotrowski's toughest competition should come from China and France, who finished sixth and eighth in Munich, respectively.
The duo of Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.) and Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), who were both members of the 2000 Olympic Team, swept the finals of the lightweight men's double sculls at the Olympic Trials. The duo will face 12 other crews in Switzerland and will need to finish in the top four in order to qualify for the Olympics. Tucker and Ruckman won two medals, including one gold, in the event on the 2003 World Cup circuit before finishing a disappointing 13th at the world championships. Their toughest competition in Lucerne should come from Belgium's Justin Gevaert and Wouter Van Der Fraenen, who finished sixth in Munich, as well as the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Slovakia.
The men's quadruple sculls quartet of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), Sloan DuRoss (Old Orchard Beach, Maine), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) will face five other boats in Lucerne. The crew will need to finish in the top two in order to qualify for the Games. The field includes Belgium, which finished sixth in Munich, as well as China, Greece, Slovenia, and the Ukraine.
The Olympic Qualification Regatta is the last chance for countries to qualify for the Olympic Games. Country qualification began at last year's world championships and continued at several regional qualifiers earlier this year. The final qualifier is open to crews from the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, as well as countries with crews wishing to qualify in an event that was not on the program of the Olympic qualification regatta held in their region. A total of 121 boats from 41 countries are vying for the remaining spots. The regatta begins with heats on Sunday, June 13, starting at 5:00 p.m. local time. Finals will be held on Tuesday, June 15, and Wednesday, June 16.