ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Only a short time after qualifying for the final of the under 23 women's double sculls, Eliza Kallfelz was suiting up again. Not for a practice run with her sister, Emily, but to get some practice time in the single as junior-level events begin tomorrow morning.
While it is common for athletes to double up within the under 23 events, tomorrow afternoon Eliza (Jamestown, R.I.) will become one of the few athletes to have competed at both a junior and under 23 world rowing championship in the same year.
It isn't the competition or the notoriety that Eliza has any concern for. Her main goal all along has been to compete on the international level with her sister.
"I am already excited for the final," said Eliza. "Even if we don't do as well as we think we will, it will still mean more than anything I do in the single to compete with my sister and at this level."
Emily, a 2015 bronze medalist in the quadruple sculls at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships, has no fear that the extra racing will affect her sister's performance in the double and beams with pride when she talks about Eliza's skill.
"I think it is super cool," said Emily. "While a lot of people have called her crazy, I think it is a great opportunity, and I am proud of her for going for it. I think she is going to do really well in both categories. We are prepared for her to handle both, and I don't think it will be a problem."
Despite coming through the first 500 meters in fourth place, the Kallfelz double made it's move before the thousand to surge into second. From there, the duo held on to Belarus to finish with a time of 7:01.26, 1.13 seconds behind the lead crew.
Eliza will now begin prep for her heat in the junior women's single sculls set for Wednesday afternoon. The Kallfelz crew will be back in action on Friday morning for the women's double sculls final at 3:30 p.m. local time.
In total, three more American u-23 crews will be in medal contention alongside the four that already advanced as day three of racing came to a close at the 2016 World Rowing Championships on the Willem-Alexander Baan Rowing Regatta Venue.
First-time national team members Kyle James (Princeton, N.J.) and John Gleim (West Windsor, N.J.) advanced to the finals in the under 23 lightweight men's pair after a massive sprint of their own, pushing through Canada to finish in 6:50.75. Gleim and James will rest for two days before racing in the final on Thursday at 4:45 p.m. local time.
Cruising to the final out of lane one, the men's four of Avery Reavill (Culver, Ind), Brooks Reavill (Culver, Ind.), Cuyler Hamilton (Wayne, Pa.) and Michael Colella (Kensington, Md.) finished second in the last semifinal of the event in a time of 6:07.38.
"We entered the race knowing that the three medalists from last year were all in our race today," said Colella. "Romania returned all four athletes after they won last year, and we knew that Great Britain and Canada were going to be good. We went to the line just trying to stay internal in the first hundred meters and get out of the blocks clean. We are excited to represent the U.S. and get on the medal dock."
Falling just short of the under 23 medals race, the men's eight, lightweight men's four and lightweight women's single sculls will compete in B finals.
In u-23 morning racing, women's single sculler Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass.) and men's single sculler Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.) both advanced to the semifinals with second-place finishes in the quarterfinals. Lightweight men's single sculler Walter Banfield (Wake, Va.) finished fifth in his quarterfinal and moves on to the C/D semifinals.
In senior racing, Mary Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) won her repechage in the lightweight women's single sculls to advance to the semifinals, while the lightweight men's pair of Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) and Andy Weiland (Columbus, Ohio) advanced to the semifinals off of a second-place finish in the repechage.
Competition will continue on Wednesday with heats in the junior events beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time. In addition, the remaining semifinals in the under 23 events and the quarterfinals in the senior lightweight men's single sculls will be contested.