Nine of 10 United States crews took the water this morning at the 2017 World Rowing Cup II in Poznan, Poland.
One U.S. boat advanced directly to the A final from the heats - the USRowing Training Center women's pair of Erin Reelick (Brookfield, Conn.; Princeton '16) and 2016 Olympian Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.; Cornell '12). The U.S. took the lead in its heat, crossing the line three seconds ahead of second-place New Zealand with a time of 7:03.91.
Reelick and Eisser will race for a spot on the podium on Sunday, June 18 at 6:18 a.m. EST.
The second of the two USTC women's pairs in the event, made up of Kate Roach (North Oaks, Minn.; Cornell University '16) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis.; University of Wisconsin '16) finished fourth in its heat and will face a repechage, or second-chance race, on Saturday, June 17 at 4:44 a.m. EST, against Great Britain, New Zealand 2, Chile, Australia and Ireland. The top four crews will progress to the A final.
Other athletes found success in Friday's repechages, including U.S. lightweight single sculler Mary Jones (Huntsville, Ala.; University of Tennessee, Knoxville '08) from Cambridge Boat Club.
After missing qualification in the heat by 1.3 seconds and finishing third with a time of 7:32.40, Jones raced to a second-place finish in her repechage with a time of 7:44.64, and was able to secure a spot in the semifinal on Saturday, June 17 at 4:26 a.m. EST. She will race against Austria, The Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden 1 and Russia. The top three crews will advance to the A final.
Two U.S. women's single scullers advanced to the semifinals out of repechages. USTC's Lauren Schmetterling(Moorestown, N.J.; Colgate University '10) finished third in her heat and then advanced in her repechage with a time of 7:37.52. Vesper Boat Club/New York Athletic Club sculler Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.; University of Virginia '07) finished fourth in her heat and then claimed the third and final semifinal qualification spot in repechage two. In a photo finish between the U.S. and Austria, O'Leary crossed the line 0.05 seconds after Austria in a time of 7:35.49.
Schmetterling and O'Leary will race in a semifinal on Saturday, June 17 at 5:26 a.m. EST, alongside Ireland 2, Ukraine, Great Britain and Germany 1. The top three crews will advance to the A final.
In Saturday's heat, lightweight men's single sculler from Craftsbury Sculling Center, Hugh McAdam (Hollis, N.H.; Washington College '08) finished second, relegating him to the repechage where he finished third in 7:03.80, narrowly missing a spot in the semifinals.
He will be the first U.S. athlete to race on Saturday morning in the C final at 3:50 a.m. EST. McAdam faces two scullers from Japan, Norway 2, Hong Kong and Germany.
The Riverside Boat Club lightweight men's double sculls crew of Peter Schmidt (Providence, R.I.; Drexel University '12) and Christopher Lambert-Rogers (Ithaca, N.Y.; Cornell University '15) finished fifth in its heat this morning with a time of 6:35.21.
The U.S. will row in the repechage at 5:56 a.m. EST, against Poland, Japan 2, China 2 and Peru. The top two will advance to the A final.
The first event of Friday morning for the U.S. featured two USTC women's fours in a race for lanes. Finishing second behind Austria was the USA 1 crew of Coco Schoeller (Palm Beach, Fla.; Brown University '15), Kelly Pierce (Oakton, Va.; Princeton University '12), Sarah Dougherty (Kent, Wash.; University of Washington '16) and Reelick in a time of 6:26.59.
Finishing 0.3 seconds behind Poland in fourth place was USA 2 crew of 2016 women's eight Olympic gold medalist Emily Regan (Buffalo, N.Y.; Michigan State University '10), 2016 Olympic alternate Vicky Opitz(Middleton, Wis.; University of Wisconsin '11), Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio; University of Notre Dame '14) and 2016 women's quad Olympian Grace Latz (Jackson, Mich.; University of Wisconsin '11) in a time of 6:30.77.
The final is scheduled for 4:35 a.m. EST, Sunday, June 18, against Austria, China, Poland and Ukraine.
The U.S. women's eight will compete in its first international event of 2017 tomorrow at 6:08 a.m. EST, as it races for lane placements in Sunday's final with Great Britain, China 2, New Zealand and China 1.
The crew of is made up of coxswain Katelin (Snyder) Guregian (Detroit, Mich.; University of Washington '09), Regan, Opitz, Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Co.; University of California '16), Meghan Wheeler (McLean, Va.; Princeton University '16), Erin Boxberger (Overland Park, Kan.; University of Notre Dame '17), Kristine O'Brien(Massapequa Park, N.Y.; University of Virginia '13) Bruggeman and Latz.