Two U.S. crews advanced to the finals on Saturday at the 2009 Rowing World Cup Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. In total, the U.S. will have eight crews competing in tomorrow's races for the medals.
After finishing third in their heat of the women's pair, the USA 2 entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) came back to win the repechage, or second-chance race, to advance to tomorrow's final. The duo got off the line in first position before dropping back to second place behind Germany's Marlene Sinning and Kerstin Hartmann in the middle 1,000 meters. However, Lind and Shoop came back in the final 500 meters to grab the victory, clocking a 7:27.54. Germany finished second in a 7:33.56 to also advance. The two boats will join the USA 1 entry of Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) and Mara Allen (San Francisco, Calif.), as well as crews from New Zealand, Great Britain and China, in the final.
In the men's pair, Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) also advanced to the final by winning their repechage on Saturday. Cole and Banks took the lead in the first 500 meters and slowly pulled away from the rest of the field for a 3.42-second victory. The duo crossed the finish line with a time of 6:44.70, with the Czech Republic's Vaclav Chalupa Jr. and Jakub Makovicka finishing second in a 6:48.12. The two crews will face off against heat winners New Zealand and Great Britain, as well as South Africa and Greece, in the final.
The U.S. also will have crews racing in tomorrow's finals in the women's double sculls, men's four, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls and women's eight.
The men's eight of Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Ross James (DeKalb, Ill.), Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.), Alex Osborne (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Michael Holbrook (Madison, Wis.), Stephen Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) came up on the wrong side of a tight race in the repechage, finishing fifth by less than a bow ball and out of the final by 0.01 seconds. With four to advance to the final, four crews entered the final 500 meters in a virtual tie for second place behind The Netherlands. In the end, the Dutch crew won the race in a 5:43.53, with Poland securing second in a 5:44.38 and Great Britain taking third in a 5:44.76. Italy edged the U.S. at the line for fourth, finishing in a 5:45.35 to the United States' 5:45.36. The U.S. will now race in the B final.
In the men's single sculls, Warren Anderson (Paso Robles, Calif.) finished fifth in his semifinal and will now race in the B final for overall places 7-12. Anderson got off the line in fourth position but was unable to challenge for a top-three spot during the second half of the race, finishing with a time of 7:15.08. Norway's Olaf Tufte won the race in a 7:00.48.
Michelle Trannel (East Dubuque, Ill.) and Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) also finished fifth in their semifinal of the lightweight women's double sculls and will now race in the B final. The duo clocked a 7:25.61. Greece's Christina Giazitzidou and Triantafyllia Kalampoka won the race in a 7:13.86.
The men's double sculls tandem of Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.) and Michael Sivigny (Londonderry, N.H.) finished sixth in the second of two semifinals and will now race in the B final. Whelpley and Sivigny finished with a time of 6:37.31. Germany's Stephan Krueger and Eric Knittel won the race in a 6:22.25.
In the C final of the lightweight men's double sculls, the USA 1 duo of Shane Madden (Ambler, Pa.) and Andy Quinn (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) placed second and the USA 2 boat of Brian Tryon (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Jonathan Winter (New Haven, Conn.) came in fourth, for 14th and 16th-place finishes overall, respectively. Madden and Quinn had moved up from fifth place at the 500-meter mark to second place when the crews crossed the finish line, clocking a 6:32.50. Tryon and Winter held second position at the midway point before falling to fourth. They finished with a time of 6:37.59. Denmark won the race in a 6:31.61.
Racing concludes on Sunday with finals in the 14 world cup events beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time. More than 650 athletes from 39 nations are entered in the regatta. Event finals will be video-streamed live on Sunday and can be accessed on www.universalsports.com. The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions will be determined after a series of three regattas. This other two regattas were held May 29-31 in Banyoles, Spain, and June 19-21 in Munich, Germany.