The U.S. women's double sculls and lightweight women's double sculls crews advanced to the finals on Saturday to highlight the second day of racing at the 2007 Rowing World Cup Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. The two crews join the women's pair and women's eight, which advanced during yesterday's racing, in Sunday's finals.
In the women's double sculls, Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) finished third in their semifinal to advance. The crew sat in third position through the 1,000-meter mark before pulling ahead of Great Britain into second place during the third quarter of the race. However, the British boat was able to regain the advantage on the American crew in the final 500 meters. New Zealand won the race in a 7:01.29, followed by Great Britain in a 7:02.09 and the U.S. in a 7:02.63. Russia finished fourth, 6.50 seconds back. In the first semifinal, two German crews and Italy advanced to the final.
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Wendy Tripician (Needham, Mass.) and Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) also finished third in its semifinal to earn a spot in Sunday's race for the medals. The duo, which won a bronze medal at the world cup stop in The Netherlands in late June, held third position the entire way down the course. Denmark won the race in a 7:03.53, with Germany finishing second in a 7:04.53. Tripician and Heere crossed the finish line with a time of 7:10.77, 3.71 seconds ahead of Greece. Canada, Great Britain and Poland advanced from the second semifinal.
The men's double sculls duo of Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) just missed a spot in the final after finishing fourth in its semifinal. Hughes and Stitt battled New Zealand and Estonia for the second and third qualifying spots for much of the race. However, the U.S. duo came up 1.23 seconds short of advancing. Slovenia won the race in a 6:17.88. New Zealand finished second in a 6:18.54, followed by Estonia in a 6:19.36 and the U.S. in a 6:20.59. Hughes and Stitt now will race in a B final for places 7-12. Great Britain, France and Greece advanced out of the other semifinal.
In the men's pair, Micah Boyd (St. Paul, Minn.) and Ted Farwell (Madison, Wis.) finished fifth in the second of two semifinals and will now race in Sunday's B final for places 7-12. The duo, which sat in sixth position through the first 1,500 meters before passing the Czech Republic, crossed the line with a time of 6:42.64. New Zealand won the race in a 6:32.03, while Croatia and Canada finished second and third, respectively, to earn the other two spots in the final. In the first semifinal, Australia, France and Serbia moved on.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.), Mike Perry (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) finished sixth in its semifinal and will now race in a B final for places 7-12. The crew sat in sixth position the entire way down the course and finished with a time of 6:04.79. The Czech Republic won the race in a 5:51.31, edging Russia by 0.12 seconds. Germany finished third. In the other semifinal, France, Italy and Romania advanced.
The lightweight men's four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Scott Wallen (Woodbridge, Va.) and Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) finished second in the C final for a 14th-place overall finish. The crew crossed the 1,000-meter mark in third position before moving into second place during the third quarter of the race. The U.S. clocked a 6:12.72. Poland won with a 6:10.61.
In the men's single sculls, Jonathan Burns (Vancouver, Wash.) came home third in the D final to finish 21st overall. Burns got off the line slowly and sat in sixth position at the 500-meter mark. However, he was able to work his way through half the field to finish third in a 7:19.25. France's Pierre-Jean Peltier won the D final in a 7:12.96.
More than 875 rowers from 41 nations are competing in Lucerne. 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.