Five U.S. crews will race for medals during Sunday's finals at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Strathclyde, Scotland. The women's quadruple sculls, men's lightweight double sculls, men's eight, women's eight and women's pair will all have a chance at a title.
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Alison Fishman (Dallas, Texas) clocked the fastest time of the heats en route to Sunday's final. The U.S. will take on The Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Romania and Great Britain in tomorrow's race.
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.) finished third in the semis to earn a spot in tomorrow's A final. The U.S. flew off the line at 40 strokes per minute, and remained in second place through the first half of the race. Battling Canada and Estonia for the qualifying position, the U.S. moved ahead of the Canadians in the last 250 meters, to finish just 0.14 seconds behind Estonia in a 5:38.79. Great Britain won the race in a 5:37.01, with Germany, Australia and Poland advancing from the first semifinal.
"With the conditions, a lot of countries are in contention," said men's eight coach Mike Callahan. "Speed is close between the top six to eight crews. Our guys are fairly relaxed and confident. Each step of the way, we have been improving different parts and now it's time to put all those parts together."
James Donovan (Easton, Conn.) and Todd Mickelson (Woodenville, Wash.) finished third to advance to Sunday's A final in the men's lightweight double sculls. The duo rowed even with Norway through the body of the race, but brought on a strong sprint to move into qualifying position, finishing in a 6:41.12. The U.S. will have another chance to race top-finishers Germany and Hungary in tomorrow's final, along with France, Italy and Poland from the first semifinal.
"This is what we wanted to come here and do," said Donovan. "We really analyzed the results of the heats and reps, so we knew Hungary and Germany were going to be hard to beat. If we go after them tomorrow, I think we have a good shot at a medal."
The women's eight of coxswain Katelin Snyder (Winter Park, Fla.), Andrea Sooter (Bellevue, Wash.), Mara Allen (San Francisco, Calif.), Jamie Redman (Spokane, Wash.), Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Suzanne Van Fleet (West Chester, Pa.), Megan Smith (Templeton, Calif.), Kerry Birk (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Anne Kennedy (Mt. Vision, N.Y.) won Friday's seeding race and will compete against Poland, Belarus, Germany and Canada in the final.
Taryn O'Connell (Orinda, Calif.) and Jenny Cromwell (Bellevue, Wash.) also compete in Sunday's final, after taking third in the seeding race. The U.S. crew will face off against Germany, Great Britain, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine.
Racing in Saturday's semifinal of the men's lightweight four, Alex Rothmeier (Boston, Mass.), Peter Reiser (East Williston, N.Y.), Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.) and Greg McKallagat (Andover, Mass.) finished fifth. The U.S. crew was in contention for third place, until a bobble in the last 150 meters set them back. Austria won the race in a 6:03.90, with Italy and France advancing to the final. The U.S. will now race in Sunday's B final against Australia, Denmark, Canada, Germany and Spain.
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 fourth in the B final. The crew clocked a 6:17.93 for 10th place overall. Belgium won the race in a 6:10.42, followed by Austria and Russia.
Nicole Nelson (Santa Rosa, Calif.) finished third in the C final of the women's lightweight single sculls. Nelson crossed the line in an 8:21.72 to finish in 15th place overall, ahead of Russia, Slovakia, and Israel. Algeria's Amina Rouba won the race in an 8:16.73, followed by Japan.
The women's lightweight double sculls duo of Jill Austin (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) finished fourth in the C final. The crew stayed within one second of third-place New Zealand until the third quarter of the race. They crossed in a 7:33.60 for 16th place overall, behind Russia, Japan and New Zealand.
Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.), Pat Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.), Ben Nace (Dallas, Texas) and Ted Sobolewski (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished fourth in the C final of the men's quadruple sculls. The U.S. crew held off Norway down most of the course, until dropping back in the final stretch. They finished just 0.24 seconds behind in a 6:10.84 for 17th place overall. Argentina won the race in a 6:07.17, followed by Lithuania in second.