MILAN, Italy - Twelve U.S. boats will attempt to reach the finals during Thursday's semifinals at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Idroscalo in Milan, Italy.
The women's double sculls, women's single sculls, women's pair, men's pair, men's double sculls, men's four, lightweight women's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight men's four, men's eight, lightweight men's single sculls, and women's quadruple sculls will attempt to qualify for this weekend's finals. In addition, the lightweight women's single sculls and men's single sculls will race in placement finals.
The men's eight of coxswain Pete Cipollone (Ardmore, Pa.), Jon Watling (Greenwich, Conn.), Joey Hansen (Bakersfield, Calif.), Jeff Klepacki (Kearny, N.J.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Wolf Moser (Moultonboro, N.H.), Mike Wherley (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.), and Ryan Torgerson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) led from start to finish in winning its heat on Monday. On Thursday, the crew will take on Germany, Poland, Great Britain, Croatia, and Italy in the first of two semifinals. The U.S. clocked the fastest time of the heats, finishing in a 5:38.38. Germany also won its heat, clocking a 5:42.33. The top three finishers in each semifinal will go to Sunday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B, which determines places 7-12.
The women's double sculls duo of Laura Rauchfuss (Riverside, Conn.) and Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished third in its heat, advancing directly to the semifinals. The duo will take on Russia's Larisa Merk and Irina Fedotova, the defending world championships' silver medalists, as well as Great Britain, France, Australia, and Hungary in the second of two semis. Russia is the lone heat winner in the race, while Great Britain and Australia finished second in their respective heats. The top three finishers in each semifinal will move on to Saturday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
Women's single sculler Kristin Goodrich (Portola Valley, Calif.) finished second in her repechage, or second-chance race, to earn a berth in the semifinals. Racing in the second of two semifinals, Goodrich will take on Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova, the defending world champion, and Russia's Yulya Levina, as well as scullers from China, Spain, and Switzerland. Both Neykova and Levina won their heats, while the remaining scullers advanced through the repechages. The top three finishers in each semifinal will move on to Saturday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
In the women's pair, Lianne Nelson (Seattle, Wash.) and Katie Hammes (La Crosse, Wis.) won their repechage to advance to Thursday's semifinals. Nelson and Hammes, who finished fifth at the 2003 Bearing Point World Cup stop in Munich, Germany, will take on crews from Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine in the second of two semifinals. Canada is the lone heat winner in the race, while the U.S., Germany, and Great Britain all finished second in their opening heats before moving to the repechage. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to Saturday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
The men's pair of Artour Samsonov (Stoneham, Mass.) and Luke Walton (Poway, Calif.) finished second in its repechage to advance to the semifinals. Samsonov and Walton will race crews from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Lithuania, and Spain in the third of three semis. Australia and South Africa are the top seeds after winning their heats. The top two finishers in each semifinal advance to the final on Saturday. The third- and fourth-place finishers move to Final B, while the fifth- and sixth-place finishers go to Final C, which determines places 13-18.
In the men's double sculls, Steve Gillespie (Renton, Wash.) and Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.) won their repechage, advancing to the semifinals. Racing in the second of three semifinals, the duo will take on crews from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Cuba, and Slovenia. Belgium and the Czech Republic won their heats on Sunday to advance directly to the semifinals; however, the U.S. clocked a faster time than Belgium and was less than 0.1 seconds back of the Czech's time. Cuba finished second, one spot ahead of Gillespie and Wilkinson, in the two crews' opening heat, while Slovenia also finished second in its first race of the week. The top two finishers in each semifinal advance to Saturday's final. The third- and fourth-place finishers move to Final B, while the fifth- and sixth-place finishers head to Final C.
Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Garrett Klugh (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.) won their repechage of the men's four on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals. Racing in the first of two semis, the quartet will take on Germany, Canada, Denmark, Slovenia, and Romania. Canada and Germany won their heats, while the U.S. and Slovenia finished second in their opening races. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to Saturday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
Rachel Anderson (Darien, Conn.) and Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.) also won their repechage of the lightweight women's double sculls. The duo, which finished fifth at the world cup stop in Munich, will take on Great Britain, Romania, Spain, Canada, and Greece in the second of two semifinals. Romania, which clocked the fastest time in the opening round, and Great Britain come in as the top seeds after winning their heats. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to Sunday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
In the lightweight men's double sculls, Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.) won their repechage after finishing in second place in the heat. The duo, which won the world cup event in Munich and finished third at the world cup race in Lucerne, Switzerland, will take on Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, and Canada in the first of three semifinals. The heat winners from Spain and Italy enter the race as the top seeds. The top two finishers in each semifinal advance to the final on Sunday. The third- and fourth-place finishers move to Final B, while the fifth- and sixth-place finishers go to Final C.
The lightweight men's four of Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.), Steve Warner (Livonia, Mich.), Erik Miller (Renton, Wash.), and Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.) finished second in its repechage and now will face crews from Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Great Britain in the second of two semifinals. Denmark beat the U.S. in its heat, while Italy won its heat by clocking the fastest time of the opening round. The U.S. and Germany finished second in the heats. The top three finishers in each semifinal will advance to Sunday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
Lightweight men's single sculler Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) easily won his repechage to advance to Thursday's semifinals. Liverman will face scullers from Hungary, Germany, Guatemala, Australia, and Ireland. The Hungarian and German are the top seeds after winning their heats. The top two finishers in each semifinal advance to Saturday's final. The third- and fourth-place finishers move to Final B, while the fifth- and sixth-place finishers go to Final C.
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 to advance to the semifinals. On Thursday, the crew will take on Belarus, Australia, Romania, Russia, and Denmark in the first of two semifinals. Belarus and Australia both won their heats. The top three finishers in each semifinal will move on to Sunday's final, while the remaining crews will head to Final B.
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) finished second in her C/D semifinal and now will race in Final C, which determines places 13-18. Nichols will face scullers from Australia, El Salvador, Austria, Hungary, and Italy in Thursday's race.
Men's single sculler Mike Perry (Ann Arbor, Mich.) won the first of two D/E semifinals and now will race in Final D, which determines places 19-24. Perry will take on scullers from Greece, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Latvia, and Denmark in Final D.
In total, the U.S. has 24 crews (one in each event) competing in Milan. Racing runs from August 24-31. 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. The qualifier is for country slots only and does not qualify individual rowers for the Olympic Games.