BETHEL, Ohio - After hard fought battles in the early morning heats, the three semifinals of the men's U19 eight opened up afternoon racing with a punch of excitement as each race posted a near photo-finish.
In the first semifinal, 1.192 seconds separated first and third place as the top-two crews advanced into Sunday morning's finals. TBC Racing led the crews with a time of 6:03.603 while USRowing's Junior Men's High Performance Camp held off Harbor Community Rowing's sprint and finished 0.687 seconds ahead to secure their place in the final.
"It was great to have three eights advance to the semifinals this morning," said USRowing High Performance Camp Coach Cory Sanderson. "The two boats that advanced have been battling back and forth since we got here and I think both of them take a lot of motivation and a drive not just to beat their competitors but also to push their teammates to be as fast as they can."
"After seeing those top-six times across the board, tomorrow's final are going to make for a really exciting race tomorrow morning. It is great to have two dogs in that fight."
Narragansett's Toby Satterthwaite was not interested in a race too close to call however as he posted a nearly 20 second margin over the next crew in the second semi-final of the men's U17 single sculls.
"It feels good, I am optimistically cautious because it is always tough to tell how people are planning their race," said Satterthwaite. "I went out there today trying very hard to post the fastest time because you never know what could happen tomorrow. I just rode my race and this is how it ended up."
Maritime Rowing Club's women's U17 double sculls posted the largest margin of the afternoon in the semifinals with 21.055 seconds over the next crew after taking a commanding lead early in the race.
Racing will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the grand final of the women's senior eight as 34 champions will be crowned after tomorrow's racing.