The United States will have three crews rowing at the second stop of the 2005 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup that begins Friday in Munich, Germany. On the women's side, the U.S. has entered the women's eight and women's quadruple sculls events, while Wyatt Allen has entered the men's single sculls competition.
In the women's eight, the U.S. crew of coxswain Mary Whipple, Megan Dirkmaat, Lindsay Shoop, Caroline Lind, Sam Magee, Caryn Davies, Susan Francia, Liane Malcos and Sharon Kriz will race against boats from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia. Whipple, Dirkmaat, Davies and Magee were all part of the 2004 Olympic eight that won the silver medal in Athens, while Malcos is a two-time senior national team member who won a gold medal in the four at the 2003 World Championships. The remaining four athletes are trying to make their first senior national team.
Ala Piotrowski, Anna Mickelson, Jennifer Kaido and Kelly Salchow will face four other crews in the women's quadruple sculls. The field includes Great Britain, the Ukraine and two boats from Germany. Salchow is a two-time Olympian in the event, while Mickelson is making the transition to sculling after winning an Olympic silver medal in Athens as part of the women's eight. Piotrowski won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the women's double sculls last year but just missed qualifying for the Games after finishing third at the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. Only the top two finishers in the double earned Olympic berths at that last-chance regatta. Kaido is trying to make her first senior national team.
Wyatt Allen will face 24 other rowers in the men's single sculls. A member of the Olympic gold-medal winning men's eight, Allen is making the transition to sculling this year. He won the men's single at the first national selection regatta in early May. In Munich, Allen will get to test his progress against several of the top scullers in the world including Olympic champion Olaf Tufte from Norway, Argentina's Santiago Fernandez, the Czech Republic's Vaclav Chalupa and Germany's Marcel Hacker.
In addition to the world cup race, the U.S. women's eight will compete in a special 500-meter sprint against Germany on Sunday. The sprint will serve as a fundraising and awareness raising event for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
In total, 240 crews and 551 athletes are scheduled to race in Munich. Racing will take place Friday through Sunday, June 17-19. Finals will be held on Sunday.