The U.S. women's eight won the gold medal, while the lightweight men's quadruple sculls won silver, to highlight the final day of competition at the 2006 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Hazewinkel, Belgium.
The women's eight of coxswain Katelin Snyder (Winter Park, Fla.), Genevra Stone (Newton, Mass.), Devan Darby (Virginia Beach, Va.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.), Megan Smith (Templeton, Calif.), Kate Davison (Bedford, N.H.), Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.), Kerry Birk (Scottsdale, Ariz.), and Anne Kennedy (Mt. Vision, N.Y.) clocked a 6:06.68 to cruise to a 2.3-second victory. The crew established its lead during the first 500 meters and continued to walk away from the field during the middle half of the race, building an open-water advantage with 600 meters to go. Belarus made a late push during the final quarter of the race but could not mount a serious challenge. Belarus finished second in a 6:08.98, while Germany claimed the bronze medal in a 6:09.97.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls quartet of Brian de Regt (Rowayton, Conn.), Daniel Feldman (Miami, Fla.), Jon Winter (New Haven, Conn.), and Richard Klein (Westport, Conn.) won the silver medal, just missing gold by 0.03 seconds. The top five crews battled each other the entire way down the course, with the final margin from first to fourth place being only 0.49 seconds. The U.S. sat in second place through the first 1,000 meters before moving into first with just 500 meters to go. Germany, who led through the first half of the race, dropped to fourth behind the U.S., Russia and Italy heading into the final 500 meters. However, the Germans were able to rebound and edged the U.S. at the line. Germany clocked a 5:55.91, with the U.S. coming home in a 5:55.94. Australia passed both Russia and Italy in the final quarter of the race to claim the bronze medal in a 5:56.18, with Russia finishing fourth in a 5:56.40.
The women's pair of Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) and Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) just missed the medal stand, finishing fourth. The duo sat in sixth position with just 500 meters to go but made a furious push over the final 500 meters to move up to fourth. Carle and Tomek crossed the finish line in a 7:18.32. Romania's Camelia Lupascu and Ana Maria Apachitei led from wire-to-wire to win the gold medal in a 7:14.94. Germany finished second in a 7:15.27, followed by Australia in a 7:16.76.
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 fifth, clocking a 5:36.56. The U.S. got off the line in fifth place and was never able to challenge for a medal spot. Canada led the race from start to finish, coming home with a time of 5:30.72. Germany finished second in a 5:31.78, while Italy won bronze in a 5:32.67.
Chase Phillips (Woodbridge, Va.), Kevin Baum (Potomac, Md.), Max Vice-Reshel (Milwaukee, Wis.), Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.), and Vince McCall (Newton Square, Pa.) finished sixth in the final of the men's four with coxswain. The crew sat in fifth position for the first 1,000 meters before dropping to sixth in the third quarter of the race. The U.S. boat clocked a 6:15.46. New Zealand rowed through Australia in the final few meters to win the gold medal with a time of 6:03.19. Australia took the silver medal, with Italy winning the bronze.
The lightweight men's four of Greg McKallagat (Andover, Mass.), Pat Ruby (Watertown, Conn.), Scott Wallen (Woodbridge, Va.), and Andrew Diebold (North Wales, Pa.) won the B final on Sunday to finish in seventh place overall. The crew sat in fourth place after 500 meters but steadily knocked off its competition through the final 1,500, passing Switzerland for first in the final few strokes. The U.S. clocked a 6:06.11 to finish 0.20 seconds ahead of Switzerland's 6:06.31.
Heather Johnson (Portland, Ore.) finished fifth in the B final of the lightweight women's single sculls for an 11th-place finish overall. Johnson clocked an 8:05.50 to finish 8.57 seconds behind Austria's Florin Hirnschall who won the race. Hirnschall crossed the line with a time of 7:56.93.