The U.S. women's quadruple sculls and men's eight won their heats to highlight the first day of competition at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Strathclyde, Scotland.
In the women's quadruple sculls, Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Alie Fishman (Dallas, Texas) clocked the fastest time of the heats to advance to Sunday's final. The U.S. crew got a slow start off the line but was able to move through the other crews to finish in a 6:47.68. The Netherlands finished second in a 6:50.66, followed by Great Britain, Ukraine and Russia. Stone and Lofgren won gold in the women's eight at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Lofgren also was a member of the 2006 Senior National Team, where she won a bronze medal in the women's four at the 2006 FISA World Championships in Eton, England. Meyer, a member of the 2006 Junior National Team, was a bronze medalist in the single sculls at the 2006 FISA Junior World Championships.
"We hit a good rhythm in the middle," said Fishman. "We were rowing a few beats lower but moving through people. We are ready to go hard in the final."
The men's eight crew of coxswain Adam Barhamand (Naperville, Ill.), Silas Stafford (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Nate Rooks (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Will England (Marblehead, Mass.), Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.), Alex Osborne (Los Angeles, Calif.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Jesse Johnson (Mercer Island, Wash.) and Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.) won the third of three heats to advance to Saturday's semifinals. Racing with a broken skeg, the U.S. crossed the line in a 5:58.92, just 1.88 seconds ahead of Poland. Canada followed in a 6:01.31, with The Netherlands in fourth. Three members of last year's fifth-place men's eight are racing in this year's boat - Rooks, England and Johnson. Cole raced in the men's quadruple sculls at the 2006 Under 23 championships.
In the men's lightweight four event, Alex Rothmeier (Boston, Mass.), Peter Reiser (East Williston, N.Y.), Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.) and Greg McKallagat (Andover, Mass.) finished in second place to earn a spot in the semifinals. The U.S. finished 2.56 seconds behind Greece in a 6:24.89 with Germany, Ireland, Spain, and Russia following. McKallagat competed in the men's lightweight four at last year's championships.
James Donovan (Easton, Conn.) and Todd Mickelson (Woodenville, Wash.) also finished second in their heat to qualify for the semifinals in the men's lightweight double sculls. The U.S. crew finished behind France in a 6:50.77. Norway followed by less than a second in a 6:51.51, with Austria, Georgia and Algeria rounding out the field.
Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.), Pat Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.), Ben Nace (Dallas, Texas) and Ted Sobolewski (Williamsville, N.Y.) placed fifth in the first of three heats of the men's quadruple sculls event. The U.S. crew finished in a 6:18.90 and will race in Friday's repechages for a spot in the finals. Italy won the heat in a 6:07.98, followed by Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland. Sobolewski and Sullivan are returning from last year's men's quadruple sculls crew.
Nicole Nelson (Santa Rosa, Calif.) finished sixth in the third heat of the women's lightweight single sculls. Nelson, who rowed even with Japan through the 1,500-meter mark, clocked an 8:45.15 and will race in Friday's repechages. Germany's Anja Noske won the heat with a commanding lead off the starting line, followed by Hong Kong, Ireland, Norway and Japan.
In the men's lightweight quadruple sculls, Chris Klotzbach (Wayne, Pa.), Chris Lambert (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Matt Carey (West Simsbury, Conn.) and Richard Klein (Westport, Conn.) finished fifth in the first of two heats. The crew clocked a 6:31.79 and will race in Friday's repechage. France won the heat in a 6:15.13, followed by Denmark, Australia and Austria. Klein was a silver-medalist in the event at last year's championships.
The women's lightweight double sculls duo of Jill Austin (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) also will race in the repechages Friday after finishing fifth in its heat against Switzerland, Denmark, Great Britain and France in the third of three heats.
In the women's pair, Taryn O'Connell (Orinda, Calif.) and Jenny Cromwell (Bellevue, Wash.) will face crews from Ukraine, Germany, Romania, Belarus and Great Britain in a race for lane assignments. The women's eight will also compete for lanes Friday.
In total, 52 nations and more than 700 athletes have entered the 20 events at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. Racing continues with repechages on Friday and semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday.