While the 2016 World Rowing Championships has a lot of moving parts with essentially three regattas taking place over the eight-day schedule, the task at hand on Tuesday for six U.S. under 23 crews is simple. Finish in the top three in the semifinals and earn the right to race for medals later this week.
The u-23 women's double sculls, lightweight men's pair, men's four, men's eight, lightweight women's single sculls and lightweight men's four all will have that opportunity as semifinals are set to begin at the Willem-Alexander Baan Rowing Regatta Venue in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
In addition, three u-23 single scullers will race in quarterfinals, and three senior crews will race in repechages on Tuesday.
The sister lineup of Emily and Eliza Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) advanced to the semifinals on the strength of a victory in the third heat of the women's double sculls. The duo drew Germany and Belarus, who finished second in their heats, as well as Poland, China and Canada.
"The conditions were definitely not prime, but at least they were better than they could've been," Eliza Kallfelz said after the race. "The first thousand was relatively flat. We had a strong start and tried to maintain our lead going into the rougher water. We focused on having clean finishes to prevent too much bouncing around from hitting waves on the recovery. Overall, the water wasn't too bad. We were definitely expecting worse, so it was nice to be surprised.
"Overall, it was a good race, despite the conditions, and we're looking forward to going into the semis and finals with some confidence from today's race. We didn't get the time that we would've liked to hit this morning, but we're super excited to go into (Tuesday's) race knowing we can go faster and harder than we did today."
Nick Montalvo (Miami, Fla.) and Samuel O'Brien (Tampa, Fla.) advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a second-place finish in their heat of the lightweight men's pair. They will take on Turkey, Canada, Hungary, Ireland and Japan. Turkey won its race on Sunday, posting the fastest time of the heats, while Ireland and Hungary finished third in their respective heats.
The men's four of Avery Reavill (Culver, Ind), Brooks Reavill (Culver, Ind.), Cuyler Hamilton (Wayne, Pa.) and Michael Colella (Kensington, Md.) finished third in its heat to advance to the semifinals. The crew will face Great Britain, Argentina, Canada, Romania and Italy in the second semifinal. Great Britain won its heat, while Argentina and Romania finished second in their Sunday races.
The men's eight of coxswain Jake Mendelson (Jacksonville, Fla.), Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa.), Nate Goodman (Montclair, N.J.), Justin Murphy (Montclair, N.J.), Kyle Flagg (Newport Beach, Calif.), Greg Davis (Daly City, Calif.), Alex Wallis (Cupertino, Calif.), Trey Francis (St. Louis, Mo.) and Bobby Moffitt (Greenwich, Conn.) qualified for the semifinals off of a third-place finish in the heats. Racing in the second of two semifinals, the crew will race Italy, Great Britain, Ukraine, Australia and Russia for the right to advance to the final. Italy won its heat, while Great Britain placed second in its opening race.
After an impressive victory in her repechage of the lightweight women's single sculls on Monday, Emma Betuel (East Hampton, N.Y.) will take on scullers from Germany, Austria, Canada, Mexico and Spain in the first of two semifinals. Canada's Larissa Werbicki won her opening race on Sunday, while Austria and Mexico also advanced from the heats.
The lightweight men's four of William Van Fossen (Moorestown, N.J.), David Mottola (Vienna, Va.), Samuel Ward (Winter Park, Fla.) and Austin Velte (West Chester, Pa.) held off a late charge from France to win its repechage on Monday. The crew will face Chile, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the same French boat in the first of two semifinals. Germany and Poland both won their heats.
Three singles will be racing in Tuesday's under 23 quarterfinals. Women's single sculler Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass.) won the third heat to advance to the quarterfinals, while men's single sculler Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.) advanced by way of a second-place finish in his heat. Lightweight men's single sculler Walter Banfield (Wake, Va.) won his repechage on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the senior events, the U.S. will have crews racing in the lightweight women's single sculls, lightweight men's pair and lightweight men's quadruple sculls repechages.