The U.S. women's pair and lightweight men's four won their repechages on Friday to highlight the second day of competition at the 2006 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Hazewinkel, Belgium.
The women's pair of Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) and Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) easily won its repechage, or second-chance race, defeating the Netherlands by 3.53 seconds to advance to the final. Carle and Tomek sat in second position behind the Dutch crew after 500 meters, but they made a strong push in the second quarter of the race to take the lead. The U.S. boat continued to pull away during the last half of the race, while the Netherlands easily finished second to also advance. The U.S. clocked a 7:33.85, while the Netherlands finished with a time of 7:37.38. The two crews join heat winners Australia and Romania, as well as Belarus and Germany from the other repechage, in Sunday's final.
The lightweight men's four of Greg McKallagat (Andover, Mass.), Pat Ruby (Watertown, Conn.), Scott Wallen (Woodbridge, Va.), and Andrew Diebold (North Wales, Pa.) also won its repechage, advancing to Saturday's semifinals. The crew clocked a 6:17.80 to finish 1.24 seconds ahead of a hard-charging Canadian crew. The U.S. sat in third position after the 500-meter mark before taking the lead in the second quarter of the race. The quartet continued to build its lead through the 1,500-meter mark before holding off Canada down the stretch.
The men's eight of coxswain Jimmy Germano (Pomona, N.J.), Will England (Marblehead, Mass.), Nate Rooks (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Ben Harrison (Dedham, Mass.), Andrew Boston (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.), Andrew Kaufman (Appleton, Wis.), Jesse Johnson (Mercer Island, Wash.), and Alex Hearne (Princeton, N.J.) finished second in its repechage to advance to Sunday's final. The crew sat in third position behind Romania and Estonia as it crossed through the 1,000-meter mark before moving into second place in the third 500. Romania won the race with a time of 5:41.71, with the U.S. finishing second in a 5:43.01. Estonia finished third, nearly three seconds back. Romania and the U.S. join heat winners Canada and Germany, as well as Italy and Poland, in the final.
Racing in the first of two repechages, the men's four with coxswain of Chase Phillips (Woodbridge, Va.), Kevin Baum (Potomac, Md.), Max Vice-Reshel (Milwaukee, Wis.), Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.), and Vince McCall (Newton Square, Pa.) finished in second place to earn a spot in Sunday's final. The crew got off the line in third place but overtook Canada for second position during the second quarter of the race. Australia led from wire-to-wire, crossing the finish line with a time of 6:17.06. The U.S. finished second in a 6:18.04. The two crews will face Romania, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Italy in the final.
Heather Johnson (Portland, Ore.) finished second in her repechage of the lightweight women's single sculls to advance to Saturday's semifinals. Johnson sat in fourth position after 500 meters and moved into third place at the midway point of the race. In the last 500 meters, Johnson overtook Italy's Carola Tamboloni for second position. Norway's Anniken Ellingsen won the repechage with a time of 8:06.50. Johnson crossed the finish line in an 8:08.24.
James Dietz II (Amherst, Mass.) finished fourth in his repechage of the men's single sculls and will now race in the C/D semifinals, which will determine the scullers who race in the C final for places 13-18 and the D final for places 19-24. With the top two scullers advancing to the top-level semifinals, Dietz sat in third position less than one second out of second place at the 1,000-meter mark. However, the 20-year-old was unable to stay in the hunt and fell to fourth during the final 500 meters. Dietz crossed the finish line with a time of 7:23.62.
Ted Sobolewski (Williamsville, N.Y.), Patrick Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), and Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished sixth in the repechage of the men's quadruple sculls. The crew got off the line strong and sat in second place after 500 meters. However, the U.S. boat could not maintain its speed, dropping to fourth in the second quarter of the race. The crew finished with a time of 6:13.62. Slovenia won the race in a 6:03.21. The U.S. now will race in Saturday's C final, which will determine places 13-15.