MILAN, Italy - The defending world champion women's eight dominated its heat to advance to Sunday's final, while the U.S. men's eight kept the Australians at bay to win its heat and advance to the semifinals on the second day of competition at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Idroscala in Milan, Italy. In addition, the men's four with coxswain won its heat to advance to the final, and the women's quadruple sculls finished third in its heat to advance to the semifinals.
Racing in the first of two heats, the women's eight of Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Ali Cox (Turlock, Calif.), Jen Dore-Terhaar (Kearny, N.J.), Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.), Megan Dirkmaat (San Jose, Calif.), Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.), Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Maite Urtasun (Riverside, N.J.), and Kate Johnson (Portland, Ore.) grabbed the lead right from the start and quickly built a boat-length advantage on the rest of the field. By the 500-meter mark, the U.S. crew led then second-place China by 2.50 seconds. The Americans continued to build their lead throughout the remainder of the race, clocking a 6:16.40 to defeat Australia by 4.75 seconds. Romania won the other heat in a time of 6:12.95 to advance to the final. Romania finished 2.37 seconds ahead of Germany. The six remaining crews will race in a repechage, or second-chance race, on Wednesday in an attempt to qualify for the rest of the spots in the final.
In a similar fashion to the women, the U.S. men's eight of coxswain Pete Cipollone (Ardmore, Pa.), Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.), Joey Hansen (Bakersfield, Calif.), Jeff Klepacki (Kearny, N.J.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Wolf Moser (Moultonboro, N.H.), Mike Wherley (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Jon Watling (Greenwich, Conn.), and Ryan Torgerson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) bolted out to the lead off the start. Racing in the second of three heats, the crew built a 0.47-second lead on Australia at the 500-meter mark before expanding its advantage to two seconds at the midway point of the race. The U.S. maintained a similar margin the rest of the way down the course, clocking a 5:38.38 to finish 2.39 seconds ahead of Australia. Germany (5:42.33) and Canada (5:43.07) won the other two heats to join the U.S. in the semifinals. The remaining 13 crews will race in Tuesday's repechages for the right to go to the semifinals.
The men's four with coxswain set a strong tone for the U.S. team when it opened Monday's racing with a one-length victory. Racing in the second of two heats, the crew of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Luke McGee (Madison, Conn.), Jason Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.), Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.), and Brian McDonough (Spring, Texas) led from start to finish, clocking a 6:12.54 to defeat Germany by 2.32 seconds and advance to the final. New Zealand finished third, followed by Croatia. Great Britain won the first heat in a time of 6:12.69 and also advanced to Sunday's final. The remaining crews will race in a repechage on Wednesday to try to qualify for the remaining spots in the final.
The women's quadruple sculls quartet of Danika Harris (Durham, N.H.), Sarah Jones (Stanwood, Wash.), Laurel Korholz (La Jolla, Calif.) and Hilary Gehman (Wolfeboro, N.H.) finished third in its heat, advancing directly to the semifinals. With the top three crews moving on, the U.S. led the race after the first quarter of the race and held the second position through the 1,500-meter mark. However, New Zealand made a strong push over the final 500 meters to overtake the U.S. for second place. Belarus won the heat in a time of 6:35.03, followed by New Zealand in a 6:37.76. The U.S. clocked a 6:41.26, easily making the semifinals. The three crews join Germany, Denmark, the Ukraine, Australia, Great Britain, and Russia in the semifinals. The remaining crews will race in a repechage on Tuesday to fill out the remaining three spots in the semifinals.
The remaining seven U.S. crews competing on Monday will now race in the repechages on Tuesday in an effort to advance.
In the second of four heats of the lightweight women's double sculls, Rachel Anderson (Darien, Conn.) and Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.) finished second behind the Netherlands' Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit Van Eupen. Anderson and Schlenker, who sat in second place the entire race, clocked a 7:11.43 to finish 3.27 seconds behind the Netherlands' 7:08.15. The U.S. boat will race in a repechage on Tuesday, while the Netherlands advanced to Thursday's semifinals. Other heat winners advancing directly to the semifinals included Germany, Romania, and Great Britain.
Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.) led their race with less than 500 meters to go but could not hold on for the victory in the third of six heats of the lightweight men's double sculls. The duo sat in fourth place after the first quarter of the race and slowly made its way through the field, powering ahead of France as it crossed the 1,500-meter mark. However, the French duo withstood the furious charge and came back to pass the Americans in the final 250 meters. Ruckman and Tucker clocked a 6:31.47 to finish 3.03 seconds behind France, which clocked a 6:28.44. The U.S. now will race in a repechage on Tuesday, while France goes directly to Thursday's semifinals. Other heat winners heading to the semifinals include Italy, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, and Germany.
The lightweight men's four of Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.), Steve Warner (Livonia, Mich.), Erik Miller (Renton, Wash.), and Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.) also finished second in its heat behind the crew from Denmark. After sitting in third position at the 500-meter mark, the U.S. took second place during the second quarter of the race and held that position for the remainder of the row, finishing with a time of 6:12.66. Denmark won the heat and earned an automatic berth in the semifinals by clocking a 6:07.20. Other heat winners advancing directly to the semifinals included Australia, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The lightweight women's quadruple sculls quartet of Stacey Borgman (Homer, Alaska), Michelle Whitcomb-Borkhuis (Walworth, N.Y.), Mary Obidinski (Oneonta, N.Y.), and Maria Picone (Pownal, Maine) finished second in its heat and will race in a repechage on Wednesday. The U.S. crew, which held second place for the entire race, clocked a time of 6:40.54, 3.99 seconds behind the Netherlands. The Netherlands, which came home in a 6:36.55, advanced directly to Sunday's final. China won the other heat in a time of 6:36.42, earning the other automatic berth in the final.
The lightweight men's pair of Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.), who finished fifth in the event at last year's world championships, finished third in the second of two heats. Altman and Carcagno stroked a 6:42.90 to finish 4.61 seconds behind the winning crew from Denmark. The U.S. duo sat in fourth position for the first 1,000 meters of the race before moving past the crew from the Netherlands into third. Germany finished second. Denmark earned an automatic berth in Sunday's final, while the U.S. will go to a repechage on Wednesday for a second chance at making the final. Italy won the first heat in a time of 6:45.30, also advancing to the final.
Racing in the second of two heats, the lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Michael Aller (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Tim Larson (North Augusta, S.C.), Shawn Stephenson (Raleigh, N.C.), and Stephen Arthur-Wong (Orlando, Fla.) finished fourth behind Germany, Australia, and Spain. The U.S. boat, which sat in second place at the 500-meter mark and third at the midway point of the race, clocked a 6:07.29 to finish 11.68 seconds behind the winning crew from Germany. The Germans earned an automatic berth in the final, while the U.S. will race in Wednesday's repechage. Italy won the first heat in a time of 5:56.51 to also earn a spot in the final.
The men's quadruple sculls of Erik Winters (Lakeville, Conn.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Henry Nuzum (Chapel Hill, N.C.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) finished fifth in its heat. Racing in the fastest of the four heats, the crew clocked a 5:58.12 to finish 7.84 seconds behind the winners from Poland, which stroked a 5:50.28. The U.S. will now race in a repechage on Tuesday, while Poland will go directly to the semifinals. Other heat winners advancing directly to the semifinals included Russia, Italy, and Germany.
In total, the U.S. has 24 crews (one in each event) competing in Milan. Racing runs from August 24-31. Repechages will be held Tuesday and Wednesday. Semifinals will be held Thursday, while placement finals for crews not making the top six will be held Friday. Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to crowning the world's best in each of the 24 disciplines, this week's world championships also serve as the initial qualifier for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, as 130 of the 202 boat spots will be determined. Rowers in the 14 Olympic-class boats - the men's single sculls, women's single sculls, men's double sculls, women's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, men's pair, women's pair, men's four, lightweight men's four, men's eight and women's eight - will be fighting for their countries' Olympic berth in each of the disciplines. Countries that do not qualify in a particular category in Milan will have a second chance to qualify for the Games early next summer.