ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, -- With more than 182 oars painted, 41 boats rigged and countless croissants eaten, the only thing the 133 U.S. athletes still needed to know was who they would be racing against at the 2016 World Rowing Championships.
That question was finally answered during Saturday's official regatta draw where the opening heats were determined for every boat class, setting up the beginning of competition on Sunday for under 23 events. In total, 21 U.S. crews will go to the starting line tomorrow.
Racing begins for the U.S. at 9:40 a.m. in the third heat of the under 23 women's single sculls. Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass.) will race scullers from Croatia, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain. The Netherlands' Marieke Keijser won two world cup medals at the senior level in the single this season and will aim to make her home crowd proud at the Willem-Alexander Baan Rowing Regatta Venue. The top four from each heat will advance to the quarterfinals.
The sister duo of Eilza and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) will make its under 23 world rowing championships debut at 10:40 a.m. in the third heat of the women's double sculls against Russia, Latvia, China and Slovenia. The U.S. finished 13th in this event in 2015. The Kallfelz sisters will need to finish in the top three to advance directly into the semifinal.
The U.S. tandem of Kyle James (Princeton, N.J.) and Jack Gleim (West Windsor, N.J.) will face Czech Republic, Switzerland, Denmark and Hungary in the under 23 lightweight men's pair at 11:45 a.m, needing a top three finish to advance directly to the semifinals.
Finishing just shy of the podium in 2015, the U.S. will open racing in the under 23 men's four at 4:45 p.m. in the first heat against Austria, Romania, Italy and Croatia. The crew of Avery Reavill (Culver, Ind.), Brooks Reavill (Culver, Ind.), Cuyler Hamilton (Wayne, Pa.) and Michael Colella (Kensington, Md.) will need a top-three finish to advance to the semifinals.
Half of the U.S. boat that won gold in the under 23 women's eight last year returns to this year's lineup. The crew of coxswain Colette Lucas-Conwell (Palo Alto, Calif.), Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo.), Georgia Ratcliff (Falls Church, Va.), Sarah Dougherty (Kent, Wash.), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass.), Gia Doonan (Rochester, Mass.), Kendall Brewer (Austin, Texas), Cassandra Johnson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Erin Briggs (Orono, Minn.), will begin defense of the title at 5:25 p.m., against Germany, Great Britain and New Zealand. The U.S. has never been kept off the podium in this event and has won gold the past four years. A win in the heat will advance the U.S. directly to the final.
In the last race of the day, the U.S. men's eight of Jake Mendelson (Jacksonville, Fla.), Nate Goodman (Montclair, N.J.), Alex Wallis (Cupertino, Calif.), Kyle Flagg (Newport Beach, Calif.), Justin Murphy (Montclair, N.J.), Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa.), Trey Francis (St. Louis, Mo.), Bobby Moffitt (Greenwich, Conn.) and Greg Davis (Hillsborough, Calif.) will take on Spain, Italy and Germany in the third heat of the men's eight. In 2015, the U.S. finished second behind Germany. Davis and Murphy return from that crew. The top-three crews from each heat will advance to the semifinals, while the remaining boats will be relegated to the repechage.
In addition to those six boats, U.S. under 23 crews in the men's single sculls, men's and women's pair, men's double sculls, lightweight men's and women's single sculls, lightweight men's and women's double sculls, men's and women's quadruple sculls, women's four, men's four with coxswain, lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls and lightweight men's four will race heats on Sunday.
This week's regatta will combine three events into one. A total of 1,890 competitors from more than 70 countries will race in one of the largest international regattas ever. Over the course of the eight-day regatta, the U.S. will send 41 crews to the line including 13 junior, 21 under 23 and seven senior-level boats.