Nine crews earned national team berths on Thursday at the 2007 World Championships Trials at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The winning crews in the men's pair with coxswain, men's four with coxswain, lightweight men's pair, lightweight men's quadruple sculls, lightweight women's quadruple sculls, women's four, women's eight, women's quadruple sculls and men's quadruple sculls will represent the United States at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships August 26-September 2 in Munich, Germany.
In the second final of the men's pair with coxswain, Penn AC's crew of coxswain Dave Florio, Steve Kasprzyk and Patrick Godfrey won in a 7:05.63. The crew qualified for the national team by sweeping the best two-out-of-three finals format and meeting the minimum time standard. California Rowing Club finished in a 7:10.93, followed by Caspersen Training Center in a 7:11.29.
Caspersen Training Center won the second final of the men's four with coxswain event to qualify for the team. The crew of coxswain Ned DelGuercio, Chris Liwski, Sam Burns, Dan Beery and Matt Deakin clocked a 6:11.10. Vesper Boat Club finished second in a 6:14.73, followed by Bantam Boat Club in a 6:20.60.
Simon Carcagno and Matt Smith of Caspersen Training Center captured the second final of the lightweight men's pair to qualify for the team. The duo clocked a 6:42.08 in the two-boat race. Undine Barge Club's Craig Dodson and Erik Reitinger finished second in a 6:47.26.
In the second final of the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, the Vesper Boat Club/New York Athletic Club composite boat of Hannah Moore, Carey Brezler, Sarah Bates and Margaret Duggan won with a time of 6:35.52 to qualify for the national team. The Pocock Rowing Center/Potomac Boat Club composite crew finished second in a 6:38.59, followed by the Penn AC/Riverside Boat Club composite boat in a 6:47.03.
Racing unopposed in the final of the lightweight men's quadruple sculls, Undine Barge Club rowed down the course to qualify, after meeting the time standard yesterday. The crew of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, Jon D'Alba, Cody Lowry and Sam Saylor clocked a time of 6:25.96 in today's race.
Caspersen Training Center also raced unopposed in the women's four. The crew of Rachel Jeffers, Megan Dirkmaat, Portia McGee and Erin Cafaro clocked a 6:36.24 to qualify for a spot on the national team.
In the final of the lightweight men's eight, Riverside Boat Club raced unopposed and won the event with a time of 5:44.11. The crew of coxswain Leigh Heyman, Will Daly, John Nichols, Andrew Diebold, Jeff Forrester, Greg Ruckman, Tyler Resch, Gavin Frase and Tim Larson will need to meet the time standard on Saturday to qualify for the world championships.
The first set of finals were contested in the men's single sculls, women's single sculls, men's pair, lightweight men's single sculls and lightweight women's single sculls. The top three boats from each event advanced to the second finals.
In the first final of the men's single sculls, Princeton Training Center's Warren Anderson won the four-boat race in a 7:01.89. Gabe Winkler of Caspersen Training Center came in second with a time of 7:04.52, followed by Vesper Boat Club's Jonathan Burns in a 7:08.54. Ken Jurkowski, who rowed through the 1,000-meter mark in second place, fell back to finish in fourth.
After clocking the fastest time in the heats, Michelle Guerette easily won the first final of the women's single sculls in a 7:37.95, nearly 13 seconds ahead of second-place Mae Joyce Gay of Potomac Boat Club. Gay clocked a 7:50.92, followed by Pocock Rowing Center's Nicole Sylvester in a 7:52.02. Ann Holmes of Vesper Boat Club finished fourth in a 7:54.52.
In the first final of the men's pair, Caspersen Training Center's Jason Read and Kyle Larson won the four-boat race by 0.44 seconds. The duo clocked a 6:31.69 to edge out Caspersen/NYAC's David Banks and Paul Teti, who finished in a 6:32.13. Micah Boyd and Ted Farwell of Penn AC came in third with a time of 6:36.92, followed by Sebastian Bea and Scott Gault in a 6:45.63.
Penn AC's Ivan Baldytchev won the first final of the lightweight men's single sculls in a 7:06.95. Baldytchev led by 3.85 seconds through the 1,000-meter mark before finishing nearly two seconds ahead of Shane Madden of Caspersen Training Center. Madden clocked a 7:08.56, followed by Riverside Boat Club's Rob Zechmann in a 7:12.21. Jonathan Winter of New Haven Rowing Club finished fourth with a time of 7:15.75.
Jen Goldsack won the first final of the lightweight women's single sculls by over seven seconds, finishing in a 7:38.91. Caspersen Training Center's Renee Hykel clocked a 7:46.29, followed by CTC teammate Julie Nichols in a 7:52.34. Melissa Rice of Hampton Roads Rowing Club finished fourth in a 7:59.10.
While the women's eight, women's quadruple sculls and men's quadruple sculls crews did not have to race at trials, all three camp boats rowed to meet the time standard on Thursday to finalize their spots on the national team. The women's eight crew of coxswain Mary Whipple, Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Susan Francia, Anna Mickelson, Lindsay Shoop, Anna Goodale, Sam Magee and Brett Sickler clocked a 6:06.74 in the time trial. In the women's quadruple sculls, the Caspersen Training Center crew of Ellen Tomek, Christen Brown, Lia Pernell and Liane Malcos finished with a time of 6:23.59. Caspersen Training Center's Mark Flickinger, Deaglan McEachern, Jamie Schroeder and J. Sloan DuRoss won the time trial of the men's quadruple sculls in a 5:51.39. All three crews qualified for the world championships.
Racing continues Friday at 7 a.m. with second finals in five events.