The United States came away with bronze medals in the men's four with coxswain and the lightweight women's quadruple sculls on Sunday, the final day of competition at the 2004 FISA Senior and Junior World Championships in Banyoles, Spain. In addition, the U.S. won two medals in the adaptive rowing events.
The men's four with coxswain of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Paul Daniels (Burlington, Wis.), and Andrew Brennan (Valley Forge, Pa.) came home with the bronze medal after getting edged out at the line by Canada and Italy. The U.S. boat held a slight advantage on the field at the midway point of the race and sat in second place just 0.26 seconds behind Canada and 0.62 seconds ahead of Italy at the 1,500-meter mark. However, Italy came back to win the race in a photo finish. The Italians clocked a 6:11.53, finishing just 0.02 seconds ahead of Canada and 0.44 seconds ahead of the U.S. The U.S. crew finished with a time of 6:11.97.
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.), Julia Nichols (Livermore, Calif.), Mary Obidinski (Oneonta, N.Y.), and Maria Picone (Pownal, Maine) also won the bronze medal. The quartet, which sat in second place for the first 1,000 meters, stroked a 6:42.56 to finish behind China and Canada. China won the race in a 6:36.78, with Canada finishing in a 6:40.86. Switzerland finished fourth, 1.49 seconds behind the U.S.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Stephen Arthur-Wong (Orlando, Fla.), Michael Aller (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Tim Larson (North Augusta, S.C.), and Shawn Stephenson (Raleigh, N.C.) finished fourth in the final, just missing a medal. The U.S. boat clocked a 6:04.54, just over three seconds behind the bronze medalists from Germany. Italy won the gold medal in a 5:58.38, followed closely by Canada in a 5:58.57.
The lightweight men's eight of coxswain Nick Anderson (Omaha, Neb.), John Wachter (Mt. Laurel, N.J.), Chris Greenleaf (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Gabe Winkler (St. Johnsbury, Vt.), John Cashman (Sausalitio, Calif.), Eric Feins (Rochester, N.Y.), Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Bill Fedyna (Maple Glen, Pa.), and Erik Miller (Renton, Wash.) finished fifth in the final. The crew clocked a 5:51.77 to finish more than nine seconds behind the winners from France. France stroked a 5:42.49 to win the gold medal. Italy finished second in a 5:43.88, followed by Australia in a 5:46.64.
The women's four of Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.), Molly Baker (Burke, Va.), Allison DePalma (Monte Sereno, Calif.), and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) led the B final from the start to win the race and finish in seventh place overall. The crew stroked a 6:43.56 to finish nearly three seconds ahead of second-place Australia.
The men's pair with coxswain of Vince Puma (Irvington, N.Y.), Dana Schmunk (Chelsea, Mich.), and Chris DeFelice (Centereach, N.Y.) finished second in the B final for an eighth-place finish overall. The trio battled Great Britain the entire way down the course before coming up just short of the victory. The U.S. clocked a 7:07.03 to finish 0.08 seconds behind Great Britain.
Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) also finished second in the B final of the lightweight men's pair. The crew clocked a 6:41.44 to finish 0.41 seconds behind the winners from Poland. Carcagno and Altman finished eighth overall.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, first-time national team member Rich Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place finish overall. Montgomery inched out a 0.02-second victory over fifth-place finisher Uwe Daxboeck from Austria. Montgomery clocked a 7:11.45. Russia's Denis Moiseyev won the B final in a 7:06.88.
Sarah Hirst (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) won her C final of the lightweight women's single sculls to finish in 13th place overall. Hirst led the race from start to finish, clocking a 7:53.44 to finish 1.31 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Michaela Taupe from Austria.
In the adaptive events, Scott Brown and Angela Madsen won their second consecutive title in the trunk/arms double sculls event. The duo clocked a 4:33.90 to finish almost two minutes ahead of the second-place boat from France. Italy finished third. Arms-only single sculler Ron Harvey won a bronze medal, finishing 0.35 seconds out of second place. Australia's Peter Taylor won the gold medal, followed by Great Britain's Rob Holliday.
0.44 across the medals in M4, whew