The U.S. lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Wendy Tripician and Jana Heere won a bronze medal on Sunday to highlight the final day of competition at the second stop of the 2007 Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tripician (Needham, Mass.) and Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) crossed the finish line with a time of 7:06.87 to finish behind two crews from China and ahead of the duo from Denmark. The Americans got off the line in fourth place but grabbed the third position as the crews rowed through the midway point of the race. As the boats reached the 1,500-meter mark, Tripician and Heere sat just 0.40 seconds behind the second-place Chinese crew of Dongxiang Xu and Shimin Yan and two seconds ahead of fourth-place Great Britain. In the final 500 meters, Xu and Yan were able to extend their advantage for second, while the Americans held off a late charge from Denmark to finish third. China's second boat of Haixia Chen and Hua Yu won the race in a 7:03.66, while Xu and Yan, the defending world champions, finished second in a 7:05.11. Tripician and Heere claimed the bronze medal with a time of 7:08.87. Denmark finished 0.97 seconds behind in fourth place, followed by Great Britain and Germany.
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.) won the B final to finish seventh overall. The quartet took the lead during the second quarter of the race and rowed to a 1.69-second victory over Great Britain. The American boat clocked a 5:46.39, while Great Britain finished in a 5:48.08. Belarus finished third.
Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) finished second in the B final of the men's double sculls for an eighth-place overall finish. The duo sat in third position through the 1,500-meter mark before overtaking Poland for second place in the final quarter of the race. Belarus won the B final with a time of 6:15.79, with the U.S. finishing second in a 6:17.32. Poland finished third with a time of 6:18.58.
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.