WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - The path to the 2012 Olympic Games in London became slightly easier for the crews that won their first races on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. this morning in the trials for the last of the qualified small boats.
Four crews from the men’s pair heats moved directly to tomorrow morning’s semifinals, while the remaining 10 crews will race again this evening in repechages, or second chance races, that will determine which of the crews will also advance.
The winners of the men’s pair and the women’s pair and the men’s single sculls, which are also being contested this week, will earn an automatic birth to the team that will represent the United States in rowing this summer pending final approval from the United States Olympic Committee.?
Advancing out of the heats were USRowing Training Center crews Michael Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Ty Otto (Seattle, Wash.) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) and Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.). Also advancing was the USRowing Training Center - Oklahoma City entry of Silas Stafford (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and the California Rowing Club crew of Ryan Monaghan (Pittsford, N.Y.), Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.).A full schedule and results will be available at www.usrowing.org.
The finals of the 2012 Olympic Trials - Rowing will air on June 23 from 6-7:30 p.m. EDT on NBC Sports Network. A record 67.5 hours of event coverage - 43 on NBC Sports Network and 24.5 on NBC - will feature nine sports in addition to rowing - including live primetime coverage of trials for diving, swimming, gymnastics and track & field, as well as events for water polo and field hockey.