ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Coach Liz Trond knew that her junior women's pair was fast but was she expecting them to break records right out of the starting blocks? Maybe, maybe not, but what she did know was that they were fast. Really fast.
Breaking a 10-year World Rowing junior record for the women's pair, Kaitlyn Kynast (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Kailani Marchak (Long Beach, Calif.) cruised directly to the final with a time of 7:16.82. Executing an open-water lead within the first five hundred meters, Marchak and Kynast finished 6.37 seconds ahead of the next fastest crew in the event.
"That is just what we trained for," said Trond. "It is their first international race in a small boat, so in the pair, anything could happen. I am very proud. They executed what we had been practicing perfectly. This might be one of the most fun boats I have ever coached. They have completely different personalities, but they compliment each other very well."
The duo knows what it takes to medal on the international level. In 2015, Marchak won bronze in the women's eight, while Kynast took home the gold in the women's four. The U.S. brought home bronze in this event last year.
With its record-breaking finish, the pair advanced directly to the final and will race on Sunday.
In total, 11 of the 13 junior crews advanced through this morning's heats, with five crews claiming open-water victories on the fourth day of the 2016 World Rowing Championships.
"I thought all the athletes were poised today after a very long summer," said Junior National Team Head Development Coach Steve Hargis. "Their technical skill set and ability to perform on the international level was impressive today. We are all looking forward to how they will perform for the rest of the week."
The entire event has been a record-breaking year at the junior level as nearly 800 athletes lined up to race in Rotterdam, 200 athletes more than last year.
Opening up the junior competition earlier in the morning, the women's four set the tone for the U.S. performances for the remainder of the day. Crossing the line in 6:52.95, the crew finished with almost two lengths of open water on the following crews to advance to the semifinals.
A first-time national team member and the youngest athlete on the 2016 U.S. Junior National Team, Kelsey McGinley (Westport, Conn.) joined junior team veterans India Robinson (Berkeley, Calif.), Sarah Ondak (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Abigail Tarquinio (Nashville, Tenn.) in the lineup, which is trying to match last year's gold-medal performance. McGinley has enjoyed the experience of being in such a fast boat.
"I think for high school rowing, a lot of it is more about who has been together longer and getting technically sound," said McGinley. "But here, everyone is so powerful and that has been really cool.
"We set a good rhythm early in our race and now we get to look forward to continuing that rhythm for the rest of the week."
Coxswain Jacob Shusko (Sarasota, Fla.), Gordon Johnson (Greenwich, Conn.), Charles Turina (Portland, Ore.), Nikita Lilichenko (Orinda, Calif.), Cole Ortiz (Orinda, Calif.), Ethan Seder (Berkeley, Calif.), Drew Taylor (Dallas, Texas), Trey Holterman (Hillsborough, Calif.) and Michael Cuellar (Alameda, Calif.) of the men's eight jumped out to an early lead and held at bay a charging German crew in the men's eight to advance directly to the final in a time of 5:39.09.
As the only returning member from the 2015 silver medal-winning eight, Sedar is looking forward to a second chance at gold.
"I was fortunate to row with a great group of guys last year and learned a lot about what it means to race on the world level," said Sedar. "Over the course of the summer, I was able to share how competitive and exciting it is to race at worlds."
The men's pair put on a show early in the afternoon as Christian Tabash (Vienna, Va.) and Joseph Johnson (Arlington, Va.) crushed the fourth and final heat of the men's pair, finishing 15.47 seconds ahead of the next crew. First-time national team members Johnson and Tabash clocked in at 6:44.91 to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Despite racing in the under 23 women's double sculls the previous evening, Eliza Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) brought home another open-water victory in a 7:58.98. Kallfelz finished more than 16 seconds ahead of the second-place sculler from Switzerland and now will race in the semifinals.
Finishing 5.86 seconds ahead of second-place France, Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa) and Caroline Sharis (Bettendorf, Iowa) advanced to the semifinals with a time of 7:08.57 in the women's double sculls.
Advancing directly to the finals, the men's four with coxswain of Ethan Ruiz (Newport Beach, Calif.), Harrison Burke (Westport, Conn.), Kyle Fram (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore.) and Kenneth Coplan (Montclair, N.J.) clocked in at 6:22.91 behind Italy.
Similar to their coxed counterparts, the men's four finished 1.59 second behind Italy. The crew of Ian Low (San Francisco, Calif.), Evan Dwinell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Sean Hayes (Greenwich, Conn.) and Cooper Ball (Carlsbad, Calif.) advanced to the semifinals on Saturday after crossing the line in 6:13.11.
Finishing first in the fifth and final heat of the men's quadruple sculls, Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla.), Zachary Skypeck (Miami, Fla.), Andrew LeRoux (Venice, Fla.) and David Orner (Darien, Conn.) advance to Friday's quarterfinals after logging a time of 6:02.17.
Joining the quad in the quarterfinals, Conor Donadio (New Milford, Conn.) and Jeffrey Schlyer (Davis, Calif.) of the men's double finished fourth in their heat in a time of 6:48.02.
Unable to hold off Hungary, Jack Luby (Barrington, R.I.) finished third in his heat of the men's single sculls in a time of 7:19.03 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The junior women's quadruple sculls and junior women's eight will race in the repechages after failing to advance from today's heats.
In the lone U.S. senior event of the day, Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.) finished second in his quarterfinal to advance to Thursday's semifinal with a time of 6:57.06.
Under 23 women's single sculler Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass.) will now be in contention for medals, qualifying for the final after a second-place finish in the semifinal and logging a time of 7:47.68.
Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.) will race in the Thursday B final after placing fourth in his semifinal of the u-23 men's single sculls in a time of 6:54.95.
Under 23 lightweight men's single sculler Walter Banfield (Wake, Va.) advanced to the C final from this afternoon's C/D semifinals in a time of 07:17.55.
The U.S. will have its first opportunity for medals on Thursday afternoon starting with the under 23 women's four at 4:00 p.m. local time. Joining the four in the under 23 finals will be the men's four with coxswain, women's pair, men's four and the lightweight men's pair.
Before the afternoon finals, junior repechages will kick-off day five of the 2016 World Rowing Championships at 9:30 a.m. local time.
After the midday break, the U.S. will compete in senior level semifinals starting with the men's pair with coxswain at 3:05 p.m.