GIFU, Japan - The U.S. will have 12 crews racing in the repechages, or second-chance races, on Wednesday at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Gifu, Japan.
National team rookies Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) will race twice in Wednesday's repechages, first in the women's pair and then as part of the women's eight. In the first race of the day at 9:30 a.m. local time, the duo will take on crews from Germany, Belarus, France and Denmark in the women's pair. Lind and Shoop are the top seed in the first of two repechages, having finished second in their heat. Germany finished third in Monday's other heat, while Belarus finished fourth in the same heat as the U.S. The top two finishers from each repechage will advance to Saturday's final.
Less than four hours later, Lind and Shoop will join boatmates Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Megan Dirkmaat (San Jose, Calif.), Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) and Sharon Kriz (Somerset, N.J.) in the repechage of the women's eight. The U.S. and Australia are the top two seeds in the race, both having finished second in their heats. The two crews will also face Great Britain, Belarus, Russia and Germany in the race. The top four finishers move on to Sunday's final.
Lightweight women's single sculler Marika Page (San Rafael, Calif.) finished third in her heat and will now take on scullers from Germany, Denmark, Tunisia and Japan in the first of two repechages. Page and the German sculler are the top two seeds in the race. The top two finishers in the repechage will advance to Thursday's semifinals.
Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine) will take on scullers from Sweden, Malaysia, and Serbia and Montenegro in the fourth of four repechages of the men's single sculls. Allen, who finished fourth in his heat, will need to finish either first or second in order to advance to Thursday's semifinals.
The men's pair of Patrick O'Dunne (Nazareth, Pa.) and Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) just missed a spot in the semifinals after finishing third in its heat. On Wednesday, the duo will race France, Australia, Singapore and India in the first of two repechages. The USA and Australia are the top two seeds in the race. The top two finishers from each repechage will move onto Thursday's semifinals.
In the women's double sculls, Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) will be fighting for a spot in Saturday's final. Cooke and Pernell will take on crews from Great Britain, Australia and Norway in the second of two repechages, with the top two finishers moving on to Saturday's final. Great Britain is the top seed in the race after finishing second in its heat, while the U.S. is the second seed having finished third in its heat.
The men's double sculls tandem of Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) finished third in its heat, just missing an automatic berth into the semifinals. The duo will take on Japan, Estonia, Bulgaria, Norway and Switzerland in the first of two repechages, with the top two finishers advancing to Thursday's semifinals. The U.S. and Bulgaria are the top two seeds.
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 boats from France, Great Britain, Japan and the Netherlands in its repechage. With only one rep, the top four finishers will move on to Sunday's final.
Likewise, the lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Rob Zechmann (Lincoln, Neb.), Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.) and Sean Wolf (New Haven, Conn.) will only need to finish in the top four to advance to Sunday's final. The repechage includes crews from Austria, France, Belgium and Japan.
The lightweight men's double sculls tandem of Bjorn Larsen (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) will race in the third of three repechages with the top two finishers moving on to Friday's semifinals. The duo will take on crews from France, South Africa, Hong Kong and Thailand. The French crew is the top seed in the race, followed by Larsen and Altman.
The women's quadruple sculls crew was forced to make a lineup change in the heat after Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.) fell ill on Tuesday morning. Nicole Sylvester (New Durham, N.H./New Fairfield, Conn.) filled in. On Wednesday, the crew of Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Sylvester or Davies, Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio) and Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio) will take on the Ukraine, Japan and Romania in the second of two repechages. The top two finishers will advance to Sunday's final.
Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) and Jonathan Burns (Vancouver, Wash.) will take on the Ukraine, Romania, Japan and Australia in the lone repechage of the men's quadruple sculls. The top three finishers will move on to Friday's semifinals.
In total, the U.S. has 21 crews competing at the world championships. Semifinals will be held Thursday and Friday, with finals taking place on Saturday and Sunday.