TRAKAI, Lithuania - The lightweight men’s double sculls and men’s eight won their heats to highlight the second day of racing at the 2012 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.
The lightweight men’s double sculls crew of Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) pulled away from the field over the second half of its race to earn a victory and a spot in Saturday’s semifinals. Racing in the first of four heats, Trojan and Meyer got off the line in third position but overtook Croatia and Greece as the crews crossed the 1,000-meter mark. The American duo then methodically walked away from its competition, winning the race by 3.95 seconds in a 6:38.02. Great Britain finished second, also claiming a spot in the semifinals.
Racing in the second of two heats of the men’s eight, the U.S. crew of Sam Ojserkis (Linwood, N.J.), Ian Silveira (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Alex Bunkers (Maitland, Fla.), Ryan Schroeder (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Ambrose Puttmann (Cincinnati, Ohio), Gardner Yost (Chicago, Ill.), Rob Munn (Redmond, Wash.) and Jim Voter (Ithaca, N.Y.) began defense of the gold medal in impressive fashion with a wire-to-wire victory. The U.S. boat took an early lead on Australia in the first 500 meters and led by 1.65 seconds at the midway point of the race. The Americans then took a big move, building more than a four-second lead with just 500 meters to go. Although Australia made a late push, the U.S. finished more than two seconds in front with a time of 5:37.27. Both the U.S. and Australia advanced directly to the final, along with Germany and Poland from the first heat.
The men’s pair of Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Dariush Aghai (Skokie, Ill.) battled Germany the entire length of the course before finishing second, less than one second off the winning time. The top-two finish advanced the crew directly to Saturday’s semifinals. Hack and Aghai sat in second position, just 0.3 seconds behind Germany as the crews crossed the 1,000-meter mark. The Americans took a bow-ball lead going into the final 500 meters, but Germany was able to regain its advantage in the final strokes. Germany finished with a time of 6:43.97, with the U.S. crossing in a 6:44.89.
The women’s double sculls crew of Carli Goldberg (Sarasota, Fla.) and Cara Linnenkohl (Redmond, Wash.) earned a trip to the semifinals with a third-place finish in its heat. With the top three advancing, Goldberg and Linnenkohl were in fourth place heading into the second half of the race, but they passed Germany and Lithuania in the third 500 to move into second place. Belarus led the race from start to finish, winning with a time of 7:21.89. Lithuania came back to take second, with the U.S. finishing third in a 7:30.40.
John Madura (West Milford, N.J.) and Matt Schanck (Brownstown, Mich.) just missed automatically qualifying for the semifinals after finishing third in their heat of the men’s double sculls. The duo will now race in a repechage on Friday. Italy and Slovenia grabbed the top two spots off of the line and never relinquished them, moving on to the semifinals. Italy won the race in a 6:37.79, with the U.S. coming home in a 6:49.16.
In the women’s single sculls, Maddie Lips (Parker, Colo.) finished third in her heat, just missing a spot in the semifinals. Lips will now race in the repechages on Friday. With two to advance, Lips sat in fourth position for the first half of the race before passing France’s Daphne Socha. However, she was unable to cut into the lead of Denmark and Ireland over the final 1,000 meters. Denmark’s Rikke Quist won the race in a 7:49.16. Lips finished with a time of 7:59.12.
In the lightweight women’s single sculls, Alex Morss (Concord, Mass.) finished fourth in her heat and will now race in Friday’s repechages. Morss sat in fourth position off the line and battled Denmark’s Runge Holmegard the entire way down the course for fourth and fifth. Morss crossed the line in an 8:30.51. Sweden’s Emma Fred came from behind in the second 1,000 meters to win the race in an 8:12.32.
The lightweight men’s four of Daniel Kirrane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Andy Weiland (Upper Arlington, Ohio), Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Philip Oertle (Zurich, Switzerland) also will head to the repechages after finishing fourth in its heat. After starting off in fifth place, the crew could never challenge for a top-three spot and an automatic berth in the semifinals. Italy led from wire-to-wire, winning in a 6:06.95. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:14.10.
In the lightweight women’s double sculls, Kayla McNeill (Montclair, N.J.) and Solveig Imsdahl (Scheelholz, Germany) crossed the line in fifth place and will race in the repechages. After Spain gained an early lead, The Netherlands took over the top spot in the second 500 meters and held its advantage the rest of the way down the course. The Dutch boat finished with a time of 7:18.46, while the U.S. clocked a 7:38.02.
Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.), Chris Massey (Mills, Mass.), Carter Aronson (Rye, N.Y.) and Mike Donohue (Malvern, Pa.) also finished fifth in their heat of the men’s quadruple sculls and will now race in the repechages. Despite less than a clean start, the U.S. boat sat in third position 500 meters into the race. However, it was unable to keep pace with New Zealand and Ukraine during the middle 1,000 meters. New Zealand won the race in a 5:55.07, with Ukraine finishing second and claiming the other spot in the semifinal. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:04.97.
Men’s single sculler Chris Buesser (Ridgewood, N.J.) finished fifth in his heat, failing to reach the quarterfinals. He will now race in the E final. Buesser was fifth off the line and was unable to challenge for a top-four spot. Argentina’s Nicolas Silvestro won the race in a 7:11.22. Buesser finished in a 7:27.92.
Lightweight men’s single sculler Jonathan Furlong (Pittstown, N.J.) finished sixth in his heat and is headed to Friday’s repechages. Furlong sat in sixth at each of the 500-meter splits. Germany’s Konstantin Steinhuebel took command of the race in the first 500 meters, winning comfortably in a 7:16.73.
The women’s four of Cathy McDermott (Cazenovia, N.Y.), Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio), Liz England (Richlands, Va.) and Daphne Martschenko (Fairfax, Va.) finished second in its repechage to move on to Saturday’s final. After getting off the line in third position, the U.S. moved past Germany into second place at the 1,000-meter mark, putting itself into position to advance. The quartet continued to build its lead on the Germans in the third 500, easily qualifying for the final. New Zealand won the race in a 6:40.83, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:46.17.
In the women’s pair, Rosie Popa (Melbourne, Australia) and Anna Kaminski (Seattle, Wash.) finished third in the repechage and will now race in the B final for places 7-9. With two to advance, The Czech Republic and The Netherlands took control of the race in the first 500 meters. The Netherlands led through 1,000 meters before the Czech Republic took over the top position to win in a 7:33.33. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:40.87.
The lightweight men’s quadruple sculls crew of Roger Stone (New Canaan, Conn.), John O’Mara (Philadelphia, Pa.), Dylan Gould (Riverhead, N.Y.) and John Redos (Mount Bethel, Pa.) finished fourth in its repechage and will now race in the B final for places 7-11. Denmark led the race into the final 500 meters before Germany earned the victory in the final stretch. Germany won the race in a 5:59.67. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:12.32.
In the women’s quadruple sculls, the crew of Britta Syverson (Minneapolis, Minn.), Samantha Warren (Davis, Calif.), Agatha Nowinski (Sacramento, Calif.) and Martie Kuzzy (Minneapolis, Minn.) also finished fourth in the repechage and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. Australia led the race from start to finish, while Italy used a strong second half to take the other qualifying spot. Australia won the race with a time of 6:22.11, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:37.23.
The lightweight women’s quadruple sculls crew of Samantha Brecht (Flourtown, Pa.), Sarah Giancola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Carolina Paini (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Cornelia Willis (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished third in the race for lanes behind Italy and Germany. The U.S. held second position through the 1,000-meter mark. Italy won in a 6:37.03, with the U.S. finishing in 6:42.57.
Racing continues on Friday with the remaining repechages, quarterfinals and select semifinals. Saturday’s racing features finals in the women’s four, men’s four with coxswain, lightweight women’s quad, lightweight men’s pair, women’s pair, lightweight men’s quad, women’s quad and men’s four. The remaining finals take place on Sunday.