MILAN, Italy - The men's four won its B final, which determines places 7-12, and a total of four crews earned the United States 2004 Olympic berths in their respective events during Friday's racing at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Idroscalo in Milan, Italy.
In addition to crowning the world's best in each of the 24 disciplines, this week's world championships 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 are 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.
On Friday, the men's four, men's double sculls, men's pair, and lightweight men's four earned the U.S. Olympic berths in those events.
The men's four of Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Garrett Klugh (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.) won its B final thanks to a tremendous start, finishing in seventh place overall. The quartet took the lead from the first few strokes, building a 1.44-second advantage on second place by the 500-meter mark. The U.S. then focused on maintaining that position the rest of the way down the course. In the end, the crew held off a hard-charging Russian crew by 0.10 seconds to win the race. The U.S. clocked a time of 6:03.90, with Russia coming home in a 6:04.00. With the top five crews in the B final qualifying their countries for the 2004 Olympics, the U.S. easily earned a spot in the men's four at next year's Games.
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 B final to finish in eighth place overall. In what was a tight battle for second through sixth places for the first 1,800 meters, the U.S. used a strong finish to move from fifth to second during the final 500 meters. The crew clocked a 6:06.81 to finish 2.50 seconds behind the winners from Australia. Spain finished 0.47 seconds behind the U.S. in third, followed by Russia only 0.04 seconds further back. Like the men's open four, the lightweight four easily earned the U.S. an Olympic qualifying spot in the event.
The men's double sculls duo of Steve Gillespie (Renton, Wash.) and Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.) finished fourth in a photo-finish for places four through six, earning the United States a berth in the 2004 Olympics. Gillespie and Wilkinson, who finished 13th in the event last year, sat in sixth position through the 1,500-meter mark but used every bit of their fastest final 500-meter split to take fourth place. The duo finished with a time of 6:28.07, 0.31 seconds ahead of fifth-place Lithuania and 0.36 seconds ahead of sixth-place Norway. Hungary won the B final in a time of 6:25.44. The U.S. finished in 10th place overall.
The men's pair of Artour Samsonov (Stoneham, Mass.) and Luke Walton (Poway, Calif.) came back to finish fifth in its B final for an 11th-place overall finish. In the process, the duo earned the United States a 2004 Olympic berth in the event. With the top five crews in the B final earning those coveted Olympic slots, the U.S. got off the line slowly and sat in sixth position, nearly five seconds behind fifth place, at the 500-meter mark. But by clocking the fastest second quarter of the race, the duo worked its way back into contact with Slovenia, who sat in fifth place. Over the next 500 meters, Samsonov and Walton overtook a faltering Brazilian crew for fifth and maintained that position through the finish. New Zealand won the B final in a time of 6:34.33. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:37.93.
The women's double sculls duo of Laura Rauchfuss (Riverside, Conn.) and Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio) also finished fifth in its B final for an 11th-place finish overall. However, only the top two crews earned Olympic berths for their countries. The U.S. now will have to race the women's double sculls at the qualification regatta in order to qualify the boat for the Olympics. In the race, Rauchfuss and Salchow sat in fourth position at the 500-meter mark but could never make a push into the top two positions. They clocked a 7:04.37 to finish 4.18 seconds behind the winners from the Ukraine, which stroked a 7:00.19. Romania, which led for the first 1,500 meters, held on for second place.
Women's single sculler Kristin Goodrich (Portola Valley, Calif.) finished sixth in the B final for a 12th-place finish overall. Goodrich sat in third position after the first 500 meters but quickly dropped to sixth place in the second quarter of the race. She clocked a 7:50.11 to finish 19.63 seconds behind New Zealand's Sonia Waddell-Scown, who won the race in a time of 7:30.48. Spain's Nuria Dominguez Asensio finished second, followed by Switzerland's Caroline Luethi. With Goodrich failing to finish in the top nine places overall, the U.S. will have to race the women's single sculls at next summer's last-chance qualification regatta in order to qualify the boat for the Olympics.
In the B final of the lightweight men's single sculls, Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) finished fifth for an 11th-place finish overall. Liverman, who clocked a 7:18.02, sat in third position for the first 1,500 meters of the race before being passed by Portugal's Paulo Pereira and Denmark's Martin Nielson. The Czech Republic's Michal Vabrousek won the B final in a time of 7:11.65, followed by Australia's George Jelbart. The lightweight men's single sculls is not an Olympic event, so no qualifying berths were at stake.
In the C final of the lightweight men's double sculls, Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.) clocked a 6:25.99 to finish 1.86 seconds ahead of Belgium. With the victory, Ruckman and Tucker finished in 13th place overall.
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 second in their C final for a 14th-place overall finish. The quad clocked a 5:54.17 to finish 2.23 seconds behind the boat from the Ukraine.
In total, the U.S. has 24 crews (one in each event) competing in Milan. Racing runs from August 24-31. Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday.