PLOVDIV, Bulgaria - The United States women's four defended its under 23 world championship title, while the women's pair followed with a gold medal of its own on the opening day of finals at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The U.S. men's four, women's quadruple sculls and lightweight men's pair finished fourth in each of their finals, missing the podium by a combined total of 3.4 seconds.
In the women's four, Sarah Dougherty (Kent, Wash.), Lizzy Youngling (Westport, Conn.), Mia Croonquist (Vashon Island, Wash.) and Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo.) kicked off finals racing. The U.S. crew set the pace from the beginning, posting the fastest 500-meter split times over the first half of the course. Great Britain was in second, but fell back to a charging Canadian crew in the third 500 meters.
"We just wanted to stay really internal and get all of our moves in," said Youngling. "We were out at 500 (meters), and we just kept that momentum."
The U.S. won its second-consecutive gold medal in the event with a time of 6:53.68 to Canada's 6:55.00. Great Britain held off Australia to take bronze in 6:56.83.
"It's good-a lot different than last year," said Chase, the sole returning member of the 2014 gold-medal crew. "Last year, we had the fastest time in the heat, and we knew we just had to do our thing in the final and we'd be fine.
"This year, going into the final, everyone's times were so close. There are really great competitors. Half of the field goes to college out in the U.S., so it's basically like NCAAs, except in Bulgaria. It was really tight racing and a dog fight until the end. We were all in it until the thousand, and then after the thousand, we had to battle it out to the finish. We knew we could do it. We knew it was going to be tough and we had to dig deeper than we've ever dug before, but we executed it well. We did our race plan, and in the end, it all worked out in our favor."
The next American crew to reach the podium was Georgia Ratcliff (Fall Church, Va.) and Jessica Eiffert (Rochester, N.Y.) in the women's pair.
"It feels really good, and we're excited," said Eiffert, who won silver in the pair and gold in the eight in 2014. "Last year, crossing the finish line in second just made us want to go out there and dominate the event. It's incredible to win the world championships this year."
The U.S. was first out of the starting blocks and gained a boat-length of open water on the field by the 750-meter mark. Great Britain was in second and France in third. Ratcliff and Eiffert continued to push to the line, winning gold in 7:33.64. Great Britain won the silver medal in 7:40.40, and Australia overtook France for the bronze medal in 7:45.32.
"To row a pair well, I think there has to be a lot of trust," said Ratcliff. "I know that if I want to settle down, my pair partner's got my back. And vice versa-if she wants to go up, or do something crazy, then I'm right there with her."
Both Ratcliff and Eiffert, along with Dougherty, Youngling, Croonquist and Chase from the four, will join coxswain Colette Lucas-Conwell (Palo Alto, Calif.), Alex Spaulding (Watervliet, Mich.) and Erin Reelick (Brookfield, Conn.) in the women's eight final Sunday.
Eiffert jogged in place as she waited to go out on the awards podium, cooling down and already thinking about the eight.
"We're ready to come back tomorrow," she said. "It's an exciting event and we love our boat so much. There's nothing like rowing at the world championships and going down the course with eight of your best friends, laying it all out on the handle."
Canada sprinted past the U.S. men's four of of Kyle Flagg (Newport Beach, Calif.), Tim Tracey (Omaha, Neb.), Julian Hagberg (Minneapolis, Minn.) and John Carroll (Bronxville, N.Y.) in the final, taking the bronze medal in 6:13.44. The U.S. crew traded spots with the Canadians down the course, and posted the fastest 500-meter split time in the third quarter of the race.
Great Britain was just able to hold onto the silver medal in 6:13.07. Romania won gold in 6:10.64. The United States crossed in 6:14.78, with defending under 23 world champion Italy fifth in 6:27.17 and Spain sixth in 6:29.33.
In the women's quadruple sculls final, the U.S. crew of Kendall Brewer (Austin, Texas), Meghan Wheeler (McLean, Va.), Erin Briggs (Orono, Minn.) and Sam Casto (Dallas, Pa.) started off in sixth place before moving into fifth and then making a sprint for the podium. Despite recording the fastest split in the last quarter of the race, the crew fell two seconds short of the goal, posting a 6:51.28 to France's 6:49.27. Poland won the gold medal in 6:43.20, with Australia second for silver in 6:4607.
In similar fashion, the U.S. lightweight men's pair of Alexander Bonorris (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Jordan Tewksbury-Volpe (Naples, Italy) rowed in sixth place through the first half of the race. Then in the third 500, they pushed past The Netherlands and Great Britain, coming within 0.05 seconds from the bronze medal.
Greece held on by a thread, posting a 6:55.54 to the United States' 6:54.59. Italy won gold in 6:53.14 and Turkey won silver in 6:54.49.
It is only the second time the U.S. has reached the final in the event at the under 23 level, and their result marks the highest a United States crew has ever placed.
The U.S. men's four with coxswain crew of Rielly Milne (Seattle, Wash.), Eric Benca (Mercer Island, Wash.), Sam Pettet (Seattle, Wash.), Oscar Golberg (Vancouver, Wash.) and Will Spencer (Redmond, Wash.) was in contention for a medal going into the sprint of its final, but couldn't hold on. The crew hit a wall just before the line, finishing sixth in 6:38.77. Just 0.21 seconds separated gold and silver, with Italy crossing in 6:24.57 and New Zealand in 6:24.78. Germany claimed the bronze medal, finishing a half second ahead of Turkey in 6:27.24.
In addition to the women's eight, the U.S. will race for medals in the lightweight men's four and men's eight Sunday.
The lightweight men's four of Ian Klein (Scarsdale, N.Y.), Samuel Ward (Winter Park, Fla.), Jacob Ford (Warrington, Pa.) and Marco Bustamante Nadeau (Thessalonkiki, Greece) takes on Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Germany and France.