BLED, Slovenia - The crews have been practicing on Lake Bled for most of the week and enjoying the sights and sounds of the 2011 World Rowing Championships' picturesque venue.
But now it's time for business.
After a year of training, 26 crews from the United States will go to the line beginning tomorrow morning in the hopes of not only winning medals, but in the case of the 14 Olympic events, qualifying boats for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
First up on Sunday is Andrew Campbell (New Canaan, Conn.) in the lightweight men's single sculls. Campbell, who finished third at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, will face stiff competition from Italy's Pietro Ruta, who finished second in Lucerne this summer. France's Stany Delayre, who won silver in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls in the 2010 world championships, will also be in the running to make the semifinal.
Campbell will be followed by the men's double sculls team of Peter Graves and Thomas Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio). The duo will face a tough field that includes the German crew of Hans Gruhne and Stephan Krueger that finished second at the Lucerne world cup. They have also drawn the 2008 Olympic champions, Australia's David Crawshay and Scott Brennan.
In the lightweight men's four, the crew of Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) will race in the next heat and face Great Britain, the reigning world champions, Czech Republic, South Africa, Spain and Austria.
The lightweight men's pair team of Kyle Lafferty (Hockessin, Del.) and Phillip Oertle (Zurich, Switzerland) will get its first test against Canada's Rares Crisan and Matt Jensen, who took a silver medal at the world cup stop in Lucerne last month, as well as Great Britain, Switzerland and Bulgaria.
Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.) and Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.) get their first chance in the women's pair in the fifth event of the morning. Davies, a 2008 Olympic champion in the eight, and two- time senior world champion Glessner, have never rowed the pair together in international competition. The toughest challenge in their heat should come from the Romanian crew of Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu, who have raced together since 2009.
The women's quadruple sculls team of Natalie Dell (Somerville, Mass.), Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) and Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.) race next in a five-boat heat that includes strong entries from Ukraine and Germany. The German team won in Lucerne, edging out a fast boat from Great Britain.
Next up will be the men's eight crew of Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Alex Osborne (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) and Ross James (DeKalb, Ill.). The crew finished fourth overall in Lucerne and is hoping to improve on the United States' sixth place finish last year in New Zealand. They will face Great Britain, China and Lithuania. Great Britain, the silver medalist in 2010, is the most obvious challenge to start.
Ursula Grobler (Pretoria, South Africa) follows in the lightweight women's single sculls. Grobler, who won a silver medal last year in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, faces Germany's Lena Mueller, who was in the quad that beat the U.S. in 2010 on Lake Karapiro and Britain's Katherine Copeland, the silver medalist in the event at the first 2011 world cup stop in Munich.
In the men's quadruple sculls, the team of Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.), Warren Anderson (Paso Robles, Calif.), Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) will start its bid for a medal and Olympic qualification for the U.S. against Lucerne champion Germany, Czech Republic, France and Slovenia.
The men's pair crew of Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Justin Stangel (Madison, Wis.) race next in the third of four heats. The toughest crews in the event are New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada, but the U.S. will not see any of them in their heat. The most difficult challenge in their race will come from experienced crews from Greece and Italy.
In the women's double sculls, Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) and Sarah Trowbridge (Guilford, Conn.), will line up in a tough heat that includes the British duo of Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins, the defending world champions, and Australia's Kerry Hore and Kim Crow, who pushed the Brits the entire way in Lucerne, finishing a close second. Germany and Canada also join the field in the second of four heats.
Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) will take the line next in the men's single sculls, the best subscribed event of the championships with 36 entries. Jurkowski, who is having his best summer racing season ever - finishing fourth in Lucerne and third in Hamburg on the world cup tour, will be looking to finish in the top three in his heat to advance to the quarterfinals. His toughest competition is Great Britain's Alan Campbell, who won bronze in 2010.
The men's four crew of Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.) and Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.) will need to finish first in its heat to advance to the semifinals. The U.S. drew New Zealand in the third of four heats. Gault, Cole, Newlin and Lanzone won a bronze medal in Lucerne, while New Zealand was the bronze medal team at the 2010 world championships.
Following the men's fours in tomorrow's program is the lightweight men's double sculls team of Brian de Regt (Rowayton, Conn.) and Jon Winter (New Haven, Conn.). This is a second consecutive world championship run for the duo. They finished 11th last year in New Zealand. They will face the Italian team of Lorenze Bertini and Elia Luini, who took second at Lucerne, as well as Ireland, Sweden, Bulgaria and India in the first heat.
Rowing in the final heats of the day is Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.) in the women's single sculls. The women's single is a daunting field, and Stone starts her first race of the championships against defending world champion Frida Svensson of Sweden and five-time Olympian Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus.
Complete heat sheets, entries and results are available at www.worldrowing.com.
For complete coverage of U.S. crews, press releases and features, visit www.usrowing.org.