Steve Tucker advanced to the finals of the lightweight men’s single sculls Friday after winning his semifinal on day two of competition at the 2002 Zurich Rowing World Cup stop in Munich, Germany.
Racing in the first of two semifinals, Tucker clocked a 7:05.46 to defeat France’s Fabrice Moreau by 1.4 seconds. Tucker got off to a slow start in the first 500 meters, sitting in fifth position. However in his typical fashion, the Mooresville, Ind., native made a strong move during the second 500 meters to grab second place at the midway point of the race and then overtook first place in the third quarter of the race. After leading at the 500-meter mark, Moreau fell to fourth at by the halfway point of the race and was forced to battle back to take second place. Germany’s Ingo Euler finished third in a 7:07.29.
In the other semifinal, Ireland’s Sam Lynch clocked a 7:4.84 to defeat the Czech Republic’s Michal Vabrousek by 0.29 seconds. Slovakia’s Lubos Podstupka finished third in a time of 7:06.95.
The top three finishers from each semifinal will now face off in Saturday’s final. Lynch, the defending world champion in the event, won last month’s world cup race in Lucerne, Switzerland.