After the first day of competition, nine United States’ crews still have hopes of reaching the finals of the Zurich Rowing World Cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland. Lucerne is the second of three stops on the rowing world cup circuit.
The U.S. men’s eight of coxswain Nick Anderson, Jon Watling, Bryan Volpenhein, Eric Mueller, Mike Wherley, Wolf Moser, Joey Hansen, Garrett Klugh, and Ryan Torgerson held off Romania to win its heat and advance to Saturday’s semifinals. Rowing in the second of three heats, the U.S. boat grabbed its lead off the starting line and maintained its advantage over the entire length of the course, clocking a 5:35.13. Romania finished 1.1 seconds behind in second place. The U.S. time was the third fastest of the day, as Germany clocked a 5:34.65 in winning the first heat and Canada clocked a 5:34.88 to finish just behind the Germans. Croatia won the third heat in a time of 5:38.24.
Steve Tucker, a six-time national team member, won his opening heat of the men’s lightweight single sculls to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. Tucker sat in fourth position at the 500-meter mark but made a strong push during the second 500 meters to take control of the race. Tucker finished in a time of 7:09.22, clocking the fastest time of the four heats.
In the women’s pair, Princeton Training Center’s Portia Johnson and Megan Dirkmaat finished second in their heat to advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals. Johnson and Dirkmaat clocked a 7:24.83 to finish 1.26 seconds behind the pair from South Africa. Belarus and Romania won the other two heats.
In the women’s lightweight double sculls, the U.S. had two boats advance to the semifinals. Princeton Training Center’s Mary Obidinski and Pocock Elite’s Stacey Borgman finished third in their heat but came back to win their repechage, or second-chance race, advancing to Saturday’s semifinals. Obidinski and Borgman clocked a 7:09.99 in their heat before stroking a 7:08.95 to win the second of three repechages. The Pocock Elite/New York Athletic Club duo of Abigail Cromwell and Lisa Schlenker finished third in both its heat and repechage, clocking a 7:20.47 in the morning heat and a 7:17.74 in the afternoon repechage. Both U.S. crews will race in the semifinals on Saturday.
In the women’s single sculls, Kristin Goodrich also advanced to Saturday’s semifinals after finishing second in her repechage. In Friday morning’s third heat, Goodrich clocked a 7:51.13, finishing in third place behind Russia’s Yulya Levina and France’s Caroline Delas, and was forced to race in the afternoon repechage. In her afternoon race, Goodrich clocked a 7:53.45 to finish second behind Great Britain’s Guin Batten.
Pocock Elite’s Conal Groom and Rollins Alumni Association’s Stephan Arthur-Wong advanced to the semifinals in the men’s lightweight double sculls. The duo finished third in its heat, clocking a 6:35.60, before coming back to finish second in the repechage in a time of 6:34.89.
Princeton Training Center’s Laurel Korholz and Kelly Salchow finished second in their heat of the women’s double sculls and will have to race in a repechage on Saturday in order to advance to Sunday’s final. The duo clocked a 7:03.22 to finish 3.12 seconds behind the crew from Lithuania and 3.8 seconds ahead of Germany. Great Britain won the other heat in a time of 7:01.47. Both Lithuania and Great Britain advanced directly to Sunday’s final.
Like the women’s double sculls, Sarah Jones, Carol Skricki, Hilary Gehman, and Laura Rauchfuss finished second in their heat of the women’s quadruple sculls and will have to race in a repechage on Saturday for the right to advance to Sunday’s finals. The defending world championships bronze-medal crew clocked a 6:34.36 to finish 7.32 seconds behind Germany. Germany joins the crew from the Ukraine, which won the other heat, in the finals, while the remaining boats will race in the repechage.
In the men’s double sculls, Dana Schmunk and Daniel Beery failed to advance to the semifinals after finishing fifth in their morning heat and fourth in their afternoon repechage. Schmunk and Berry clocked a 6:35.20 in the morning and followed that performance up with a 6:32.44 in the afternoon. However, the three-second improvement was not enough for the crew to advance. Schmunk and Beery now will race in the “C” final, which will determine places 13-17.
By virtue of the 2002 National Team Selection Procedures, five of the competing crews have the opportunity to qualify for the 2002 World Championships in Seville, Spain, if they finish in the top six in Lucerne. These boats include the women’s single sculls, women’s double sculls, men’s lightweight double sculls, women’s pair, and the “A” entry of the women’s lightweight double sculls. If a boat does not finish in the top six at Lucerne or declines its world championships’ berth following a top six finish, selection trials will be held in August in Princeton, N.J., to determine the U.S. entry for the world championships in that event.
Racing continues on Saturday with semifinals and repechages in events without semifinals. Finals for all events will be held on Sunday.
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