ETON DORNEY, Great Britain - Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) is one step closer to securing a spot on the 2013 U.S. National Team, following her semifinal win in the women’s single sculls at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup #2.
A top-four finish in tomorrow’s final could mean a spot on the team that will compete at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea, August 25-September 1.
Coming off of a convincing heat win yesterday over Russia’s London Olympian Julia Levina, Logan returned to the line Saturday to post a winning time of 8:02.27 in less than ideal course conditions. Great Britain’s Victoria Thornley was first off the line, followed by New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, who finished fourth at the 2012 Olympic Games. Logan took the lead by the 1,000-meter mark and continued to push to the finish line.
The U.S. sculler will meet Thornley and Twigg again in the final, along with Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig, Sweden’s Frida Svensson and Germany’s Julia Lier from the second semifinal.
Logan is revisiting the racecourse where she won her second Olympic gold medal in the women’s eight last August. She is sculling solo this weekend for only the second time in her international rowing career. Earlier this spring, Logan won bronze in the women’s single event and silver in the women’s quadruple sculls at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup #1.
In adaptive racing, the 2012 Paralympic bronze medalist, trunk and arms mixed double sculls team of
Rob Jones (Lovettsville, Va.) and
Oksana Masters (Louisville, Ky.) won a bronze medal in Saturday’s final. The London silver-medal team of France - Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu - took the early lead and held on for the gold medal, crossing in 4:26.40. Israel’s Olga Sokolov and Reuven Magnagey took second in 4:37.18, with Jones and Masters third in 4:39.12.
U.S. Para-Rowing crews, including the trunk and arms mixed double sculls, will be selected at the Para-Rowing World Championship Trials, which are scheduled for July 7-9 in West Windsor, N.J.
Two other U.S. crews fell short of a top-four finish in the World Rowing Cup events here at Eton Dorney.
In the men’s single sculls,
John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished fourth in his semifinal, and will now race in the B final for 7th place overall. Graves advanced from his repechage win yesterday. Germany’s London Olympian Marcel Hacker won the race in a 7:04.63, followed by Bulgaria in a 7:09.84 and Argentina in a 7:16.24. Graves maintained a fourth-place position over the length of the course, finishing in a 7:22.89.
Graves earned the opportunity to compete in the regatta with his win at the 2013 National Selection Regatta #1. He has previously competed on U.S. under 23 teams, where he finished 11th in the lightweight single in 2010 and 13th in the pair in 2009. He will have another opportunity to qualify for the 2013 U.S. National Team at World Cup #3.
The lightweight double sculls crew of
Peter Alter (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and
Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.) finished fifth in its semifinal, and will join Graves in the B finals.
Alter and Ethridge held the fifth-place position for the first half of the course before slipping back into sixth. A strong sprint brought the crew back into fifth, where it finished in a 7:00.51.
In international non-Olympic class racing, U.S. lightweight men’s single sculler
Hugh McAdam (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished fourth in his semifinal and will now race in the B final. McAdam held the fourth-place position the length of the course, posting a 7:36.40. Poland, Ireland and Denmark advanced from the race.
The U.S. lightweight men’s single sculls will be selected at the Senior World Championship Trials, scheduled for August 4-7.
Dorney Lake, a part of Eton College, has hosted a number of World Rowing regattas in recent years, including the 2005 World Rowing Cup, the 2006 World Rowing Championships and the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships. It is a custom-built, manmade rowing venue along the famous Thames River across from picturesque Windsor, and the home of rowing for legendary Eton College.
The 2013 World Rowing regatta season started early in the southern hemisphere in late March. The first stage of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup series was held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, venue of the 2000 Olympic Rowing Regatta. The third and final race in the series will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland July 12-14, 2013.
Race reports, live results and a photo gallery will be available on
www.worldrowing.com throughout the regatta. Sunday’s A finals will be streamed live beginning at 9:55 a.m. local time at
www.worldrowing.com/video. Click here for Sunday’s start list:
http://www.sportresult.com/federations/FISA/download/World_Rowing_Cup_II_2013,_Eton_SS_2013.06.23.cp.pdf.