MILAN, Italy - The women's four and men's pair with coxswain won gold medals, while the lightweight men's eight won the silver medal, on the first day of finals on Saturday at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Idroscalo in Milan, Italy.
The women's four got things off to an outstanding start in the first race of the day. The crew of Wendy Wilbur (East Bridgewater, Mass.), Whitney Webber (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), and Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) clocked a 6:53.08 to win the gold medal by 1.34 seconds. The U.S. used a strong start to grab an early lead over then second place Canada. By the 1,000-meter mark, the Canadians had taken a slight advantage, but that's when the U.S. made its move to take control of the race. The U.S. regained the lead during the third 500 and continued to build its advantage over the final 500 meters to walk away with the victory. The Netherlands finished second in a time of 6:54.42. Germany won the bronze medal in a 6:56.36, while Canada dropped to fourth.
"We anticipated that everybody would go out hard," Wilbur said. "Just after the 1,000 (meter mark), we had planned an attack, and we were hoping that we could stay right there (in the hunt) until our move. Our last 500 has been really good. I knew that in the last 500, if we were up or close, that we would be able to take it."
In the day's second race, the men's pair with coxswain of Andy Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa.), Matt Rich (Duluth, Minn.), and Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.) picked up right where the women's four left off. The crew has been strong off the start all summer, and Saturday's final was no different. The trio built a 0.75-second advantage at the 500-meter mark. The U.S. boat continued to push away from the Australian crew and made a big move in the third quarter of the race to take a full-length advantage after 1,500 meters. Kelly, Rich, and Beery crossed the line in a time of 7:10.11 to win the gold medal, 3.02 seconds ahead of Australia's 7:13.13. Canada finished third in a time of 7:20.23, winning the bronze medal.
"We had planned to get off the line pretty fast. That's been our bread-and-butter for a little while, and that went according to plan," Kelly said. "Coming into the final 500 (meters), our margin looked to be about a half length, so we started our sprint a little bit earlier than we had planned. From there, every five or 10 strokes, we would take another seat. I thought we executed our race plan very well. It really wasn't difficult on my end. Every time I called for a move, they responded."
The lightweight men's eight of coxswain Joe Finelli (Boston, Mass.), John Wachter (Mt. Laurel, N.J.), Gus Maclaurin (Peterborough, N.H.), John Wall (North Wales, Pa.), Bill Fedyna (Maple Glen, Pa.), Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Eric Feins (Rochester, N.Y.), and Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.) finished second to take home the silver medal. Germany got off the line quickly, taking control of the race during the first 500 meters and building its lead to 3.45 seconds by the 1,500-meter mark. The U.S. cut into the lead during the final quarter of the race but could not catch Germany. The crew stroked a 5:43.95, while Germany won the gold medal in a time of 5:41.43. France took the bronze medal in a time of 5:45.43.
"We're a little disappointed not to win, but with this being my first national team, winning a medal is pretty cool," Bolton said. "I thought we had a good race. We stuck to the race plan with a couple of little changes to react to what the Germans were doing, but we couldn't quite make it up in the end. It's difficult not having a heat because you can't get a gauge of your speed against the other crews. We've been doing a lot of pieces with the U.S. heavyweight eight and that really helped us get prepared."
Lianne Nelson (Seattle, Wash.) and Katie Hammes (La Crosse, Wis.) finished sixth in the final of the women's pair. The duo got off the line in fifth place and could never make a move toward a medal position, finishing in a time of 7:21.94. Great Britain's Catherine Bishop and Katherine Grainger won the gold medal by clocking a 7:04.88. Belarus finished second, followed by Romania. With this year's world championships serving as the initial Olympic qualifier for countries, Nelson and Hammes earned the United States a berth in the women's pair at the 2004 Olympics. (The qualifier is for countries only and does not qualify the individual athletes for the Games.)
Other gold medal winners included Romania's Rumyana Neykova in the women's single sculls, Norway's Olaf Tufte in the men's single sculls, Australia in the men's pair, New Zealand in the women's double sculls, France in the men's double sculls, Canada in the men's four, Canada's Fiona Milne in the lightweight single sculls, and Italy's Stefano Basalini in the lightweight men's single sculls. With seven days in the books, the regatta concludes on Sunday with 12 more finals.
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 U.S. has now officially qualified five boats for the Olympics and has the chance to qualify four more on Sunday.