ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- A boat named 'Rotterdam Gold" will begin making its way back to the United States today to the overwhelming joy of Emily Delleman and Caroline Sharis. A worthy prize for winning the first-ever medal for the U.S. in the junior women's double sculls.
"Our coach told us before the race that if we won, he would buy the boat and name it 'Rotterdam Gold,' so that gave us a little extra incentive," laughed Sharis after the race. "More than anything, we just wanted to win. We have been training so hard, and this is such an amazing moment. I can't believe it."
Moments such as that were had all across the boatyard today as the U.S. brought in a record-haul of six medals -- one gold, one silver and four bronze. For two of those crews, including the double, it marked the first time in history a medal had been won by the U.S. in that event.
Delleman (Davenport, Iowa), a junior national team veteran, and Sharis (Bettendorf, Iowa) were shocked at how early they were able to gain the lead.
"Being out ahead of the field, we realized that it was totally in our grasp to win this thing," said Delleman. "To work so hard all summer and to see it pay off like this is by far the best feeling ever. To be able to share this experience with someone from my home team makes it even better."
Making another move with 750 meters to go through the crosswind, the duo cemented its gold-medal position, finishing in a time of 7:08.12 followed by Greece (7:10.55) and Italy (7:10.78).
For stroke seat of the men's eight, Gordon Johnson (Greenwich, Conn.), today's results will be unforgettable as well. Maybe just not as joyous as the double's, but important nonetheless.
"I will never forget crossing the halfway mark," said Johnson. "We were neck-in-neck with Germany and that was a very real moment. Coming into that final sprint and our coxswain yelling that they had that half a seat right before the race ended, that is going to stick with me forever."
In what was described by the announcer as "the most epic way to end a regatta and what rowing is all about," the men's eight final came down to an absolute battle as Germany and the United States duked it out for the gold medal.
In a crew with only one returning member from the 2015 campaign, coxswain Jacob Shusko (Sarasota, Fla.), Johnson, 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.) raced bow-ball to bow-ball with the Germans the entire second half of the course.
With 750 meters left to go, the U.S. edged its bow ball in front of the German crew in what was turning out to be one of the tightest races of the day. But, the Germans responded with a move of their own through the red buoys and would ultimately win gold with a time of 5:38.58, just 0.03 seconds ahead of the Americans who finished in 5:38.61. Great Britain won bronze in 5:43.25.
The three-hundredths of a second will not be the only thing Johnson remembers about his trip to Rotterdam, though.
"These are my best friends," he said. "They're my brothers. I am looking forward to seeing what we all do in the future."
In another "first-medal" performance, Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla.), Zachary Skypeck (Miami, Fla.), Andrew LeRoux (Venice, Fla.) and David Orner (Darien, Conn.) brought home a bronze medal for the U.S. in the men's quadruple sculls.
For bow seat Orner, the medal was a culmination of the four athlete's dedication, time and trust in one another.
"It is so exciting to be a part of the first crew," said Orner. "Training over the summer, we have had this goal to make the podium. Getting there and realizing that the dream that we had is now complete, it's really special.
"Our strength comes from the trust that each person holds for one another in the crew. Similar to what we saw in a couple of our previous races, we were down, but in our head, we knew that we were strong mentally and together we could do it."
Sitting in fourth place behind the French crew for the first three quarters of the race, the Americans started their sprint early, taking seats with every stroke as they moved closer to the other two lead crews. The quad would finish in a time of 6:00.32, as the Czech Republic won gold and the Germans took silver in times of 5:56.77 and 5:58.89, respectively.
From Ethan Ruiz's seat of the men's four with coxswain final, it was going to take a mad dash to win America's first medal in his event since 2000.
"I looked over to my left and saw that we were dead even with Serbia," said Ruiz. "So, I just told my crew to get us to the podium, and they responded. It feels amazing to get this medal; I am really proud."
Ruiz (Newport Beach, Calif.), Harrison Burke (Westport, Conn.), Kyle Fram (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore.) and Kenneth Coplan (Montclair, N.J.) won bronze in a time of 6:20.58, holding off a charging Serbia by 0.11 seconds. The Italians took gold with 6:15.97, followed by Germany in 6:18.16.
Early on, many spectators realized that it was going to be a day full of nail-biting as the women's four kicked things off with a bang for the U.S. in the first final of the day.
In a race too-close to call at the finish, India Robinson (Berkeley, Calif.) was sure that the streak had ended. For the past six years, the U.S. had won a medal in this event, taking gold last year.
"I have never been in a tighter race," said Robinson. "When we crossed the line, I thought for sure we had come in fifth place."
Contrary to what Robinson believed, their powerful sprint put Robinson, Kelsey McGinley (Westport, Conn.), Sarah Ondak (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Abigail Tarquinio (Nashville, Tenn.) on the medal stand with a bronze medal.
"When I finally looked up at the screen, I just remember thinking that it had to be a mistake. No way we came in third. Now knowing the fact for sure, it feels amazing."
Trailing in fifth place off the start, Robinson and her crew worked themselves back up in medal contention by the halfway mark, trailing Germany and Italy by open-water. The real battle didn't lie in front of the Americans, however. It was behind them.
In a mad dash for the finish, 0.55 seconds separated third and fifth place as the U.S. finished behind Germany, who took first in a time of 6:42.17 and Italy (6:43.15).
After breaking a 10-year-old World Rowing junior record in the women's pair during the heats to advance directly to the final, a bronze medal was not what Kaitlyn Kynast (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Kailani Marchak (Long Beach, Calif.) had hoped for. Yet, the duo recognized that the bond they had formed while training would last longer than any medal.
"It means so much to win this medal with Kaitlyn," said Marchak. "Even though it wasn't what we wanted, I wouldn't have wanted to do this with anyone else on my team. We have both worked so hard and we love each other so much, but today just wasn't our race day."
The Americans logged a time of 7:20.63 behind Italy (7:15.85) and Denmark (7:18.50).
Unable to maintain their third place position in the last quarter of the race, Christian Tabash (Vienna, Va.) and Joseph Johnson (Arlington, Va.) took fourth in the men's pair with a time of 6:46.58.
Leading through the first thousand meters, Germany was unable to respond as the Greek crew pushed through them to take the lead. Greece won gold after clocking in at 6:32.51, followed by Germany (6:35.00) and South Africa (6:44.82).
A massive Italian crab helped the men's four lineup of Ian Low (San Francisco, Calif.), Evan Dwinell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Sean Hayes (Greenwich, Conn.) and Cooper Ball (Carlsbad, Calif.) sprint into fourth place, finishing in a time of 6:12.47.
Dominating the race, Romania cruised to a gold medal in a time of 5:58.85, while the real race happened for silver between Great Britain and Germany. The British crew would maintain its slight lead and cross the line in 6:03.71, followed by the Germans in 6:09.30.
Coxswain Sydney Edwards(Sarasota, Fla.), Sarah Commesso (Marin, Calif.), Lindsay Noah (San Francisco, Calif.), Julia Cornacchia (Darien, Conn.), Grace McGinley (Westport, Conn.), Katherine Burns (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Sophia Lynn (Los Angeles, Calif.), Jillian Renly (San Diego, Calif.) and Katryna Niva (Davis, Calif.) finished the regatta as the fifth fastest junior women's eight in the world, recording a time of 6:37.00.
Though slow off the start, the Czech Republic trailed Germany only slightly by the halfway mark. The Germans held the charging Czechs off for a bit, but not long enough, as the Czech Republic would take the gold medal in a time of 6:27.82. The Germans would ultimately win silver in a time of 6:28.30, followed by the Italians in 6:30.32.
Before medals were won, three B finals ran down the course at the at the Willem-Alexander Baan Rowing Regatta Venue.
Striding away from the field with 500 meters left in the race, Eliza Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I.) won the B final in a time of 7:51.43, finishing the regatta three places better than her 10th-place finish during 2015 campaign.
Jenna Van De Grift (San Diego, Calif.), Claire Grundig (San Carlos, Calif.), Molly Milligan (Sacramento, Calif.) and Rose Carr (Newark, Del.) clocked in at 6:44.78 to finish the regatta in ninth place overall in the women's quadruple sculls.
Jack Luby (Barrington, R.I.) logged a time of 7:13.18 for 12th place overall in the men's single sculls.