The U.S. lightweight women's double sculls advanced to the finals to highlight the second day of competition at the second stop of the 2007 Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Wendy Tripician (Needham, Mass.) and Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) finished third in their semifinal of the lightweight women's single sculls to advance to Sunday's final. Racing in the second semi, the U.S. duo sat in third position the entire way down the course, crossing the finish line in a 6:57.57. China's top boat of Dongxiang Xu and Shimin Yan won the race in a 6:53.18, with Great Britain finishing second. Norway finished fourth, 0.52 seconds behind the U.S. In the other semifinal, China's second boat clocked a 6:55.85 to defeat Denmark by 2.04 seconds. Germany finished third to claim the last spot in the final.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Mike Perry (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.) and Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) finished sixth in its semifinal and now will race in the B final for places 7-12. The U.S. crew sat in sixth place the entire way down the course, finishing with a time of 5:59.29. Poland led from start to finish, clocking a 5:41.71. The Czech Republic and Slovenia also advanced to the final. In the second semifinal, Ukraine, France and Australia advanced.
Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) finished fifth in the first semifinal of the men's double sculls and now will race in the B final for places 7-12 on Sunday. The duo got off to a strong start and sat in second position after 500 meters. However, Hughes and Stitt dropped to fourth during the second quarter of the race and were unable to mount a challenge for one of the three qualifying spots for the final. The duo finished with a time of 6:26.53. Great Britain won the race with a time of 6:09.71, followed by New Zealand in a 6:10.40. France edged Cuba for the third qualifying spot by 0.21 seconds, finishing in a 6:12.18. Slovenia, Australia and Estonia took the top three spots in the second semifinal.
In the C final of the lightweight men's double sculls, Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished fifth for a 17th-place finish overall. The duo sat in third place at the 1,500-meter mark before falling to fifth. New Zealand won the C final with a time of 6:21.73, while Liverman and Montgomery clocked a 6:29.42.
In the D final of the men's single sculls, Jonathan Burns (Vancouver, Wash.) finished third for a 21st-place finish overall. Burns crossed the finish line in a 7:00.40, less than three seconds behind the race winner from France. Pierre-Jean Peltier won the race in a 6:57.57.
More than 750 rowers from 43 nations are competing on the Bosbaan regatta course. Racing concludes on Sunday with finals. The event will be streamed live in the United States on the World Championship Sports Network Web site at www.wcsn.com. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed at www.worldrowing.com.
The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. The first stage took place June 1-3 in Austria. The remaining stage will be held July 13-15 in Lucerne, Switzerland.