GIFU, Japan - Nine more U.S. crews will begin their quest for medals on Tuesday at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Gifu, Japan.
The U.S. lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's quadruple sculls, lightweight women's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's four, men's eight and women's eight will hit the water for the first time beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time.
The men's eight is coming off of a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. Four members of that eight - Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.), Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.), Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) and Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) - return to this year's boat. The crew also includes coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Paul Daniels (Burlington, Wis.), Mike Blomquist (Greensboro, N.C.) and Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.). Blomquist is a three-time national team member, while the other four led the men's four with coxswain to a bronze medal at the 2004 World Championships. Racing in the second of two heats, the crew will face boats from Italy, Great Britain, Romania, France and Poland. The Italian eight won this year's world cup race in Munich, Germany, and finished second at the other two world cup stops. The winner of each heat advances directly to Sunday's final, while the remaining crews will have to race in a repechage, or second-chance race, on Wednesday.
The women's eight won a silver medal at last year's Olympic Games and returns coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.) and rowers Megan Dirkmaat (San Jose, Calif.) and Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.) from that crew. The boat also includes three-time national team member Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) and national team rookies Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Sharon Kriz (Somerset, N.J.). The U.S. won a bronze medal at the world cup stop in Munich. Racing in the first of two heats, the U.S. will face Romania, Great Britain and Belarus on Tuesday. Romania, the defending Olympic champion, has a number of new faces in the boat this season but still won the world cup race in Lucerne, Switzerland. The winner of each heat moves directly to the final, with the rest of the crews heading to the repechage.
The women's quadruple sculls crew includes three Olympians. Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.) and Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), who won silver medals as part of the eight last year, join two-time women's quadruple sculls Olympian Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio) and newcomer Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio) in the boat. All but Shumway made up the crew that won a bronze medal at the world cup race in Munich. On Tuesday, the U.S. will face Russia, Japan, Italy and Germany in the first of two heats. The Russian crew, which is stroked by three-time Olympian Irina Fedotova, took home the gold medal from the Lucerne world cup stop. The winner of each heat advances to the final, with the rest of the crews going to the repechages.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) and Jonathan Burns (Vancouver, Wash.) includes three national team rookies. Walsh, the lone veteran, will be competing for the first time on the world stage as a sculler. The boat will take on crews from Estonia, Russia, Germany and Australia in the first of three heats. Estonia, led by five-time Olympian Juri Jaanson, won two world cup races this year. The top three boats will advance to Friday's semifinals, while the remaining crews will have to race in the repechages.
In the lightweight men's double sculls, newcomer Bjorn Larsen (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and veteran Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) will take on Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Russia and Uzbekistan in the first of four heats. Italy won the world cup race in Munich, while Poland returns two-time defending Olympic champion Robert Sycz to its boat. The winner of each heat advances to the semifinals. The remaining crews will head to the repechages.
Three-time national team members Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) move into the lightweight women's double sculls this year following their bronze-medal performance in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls at the 2004 World Championships. Racing in the third of three heats, the U.S. duo will take on crews from Germany, Ireland, Japan and Spain. Germany won the world cup race in Eton, England, and finished second in Lucerne. The top three finishers from each heat will advance to the semifinals. The remaining crews will move on to the repechages.
The lightweight men's four of John Wachter (Mt. Laurel, N.J.), Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) and Rich Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) will take on crews from the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and India in the third of three heats. France won two of the three world cup races. The top three finishers in each heat move on to the semifinals, with the remaining crews advancing to the repechages.
The lightweight women's quadruple sculls quartet of Wendy Campanella (Needham, Mass.), Sarah Hirst Smith (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), Melissa Rice (Fairfax, Va.) and Heather Moon (Windsor, Vt.) will take on the Netherlands, Canada and Great Britain in the first of two heats. The Netherlands won a silver medal at the world cup race in Eton. Canada, which has not raced on the world cup circuit this year, won a silver medal in the event at last year's world championships. The winner of the heat moves directly to Sunday's final, while the rest of the crews will have to race in the repechage.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Rob Zechmann (Lincoln, Neb.), two-time Olympian Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.) and Sean Wolf (New Haven, Conn.) also will race in the first of two heats. The quartet will take on crews from Italy, Austria and Japan. Italy won all three world cup races, while Austria won bronze at the final race in Lucerne. The winner of each heat advances directly to the final, with the rest of the boats going to the repechage.
In total, the U.S. has 21 crews competing at the world championships, which run through Sunday. Repechages will take place on Wednesday, with semifinals taking place on Thursday and Friday. Finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday.