OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Day three of the USRowing Masters National Championship Regatta is complete at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Heats and finals in 69 were contested.
In the first final of the afternoon, Duke Grimes and Ted Pytlar of Swan Creek Rowing Club captured gold in the men's C pair. The duo came out ahead of their competition with a time of 3:42.33. Union Boat Club's Sibley Reppert and Jeb Besser clocked a 3:46.73 to take silver, followed by Carnegie Lake Rowing Association's Frank Hoffmann and Yavuz Kuban, who finished third with a time of 3:50.76.
In the women's A eight final, Community Rowing Inc. B won in a 3:26.52. The crew of Roberta Turri Vise, Catherine Truman, Meg Tabaka, Catherine Sheehan, Trish Kritek, Emily Samek, Alice Taggart, Tracey Neret and coxswain Elisabeth Zimmer came out just seconds ahead of the second-place crew. With a time of 3:29.54, Capital Rowing Club's Christina Galligan, Laura Chalmers, Kathryn Kurre, Sarah Dunham, Kae Gerhard, Kim Symes, Jennifer Ney, Debbie Frye and Coxswain Gretchen Abell finished second. Community Rowing Inc.'s A boat crossed the line 1.64 seconds behind for third place.
Sixty-six-year-old Henry Hamilton of Cambridge Boat Club clocked a 4:06.16 in the final of the men's lightweight G single sculls to win gold. In a close race to the line, Potomac Boat Club's Cal Sutliff finished just 2.2 seconds later, with Lee Smith of Fort Worth Rowing Club, Inc. in a 4:28.87.
In the mixed B eight event, Rocky Mountain Rowing Club rowed to victory in both the morning heat and afternoon final. The crew of Allen Edwards, Mark Groshek, Ritchie Sax, Mark Lodmill, R. Pazmino, Kate Newman, Terri Evans, Karen Gress and coxswain Kristen Lodmill won gold with a time of 3:09.15. East Arm Rowing Club clocked a 3:10.06, just .91 seconds off of the first-place time. Greater Columbus Rowing Association, after winning the first of three heats, took third in the final with a 3:12.86.
The final day of racing is scheduled for Sunday, with morning heats and afternoon finals.