The men's single sculls and women's pair advanced out of the semifinals on Friday to highlight the third day of competition at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France. The U.S. will now have five crews racing for medals on Saturday.
Men's single sculler Matthew Maddamma (Pittsburgh, Pa.) came from behind in the final 200 meters of his semifinal to finish third and earn a spot in tomorrow's final. While Maddamma sat in fifth position through the 1,500-meter mark, he was engaged in a tight battle the entire way down the course with Russia's Viacheslav Mikhaylevskiy and Tunisia's Med Haoussem Laouiti for the last qualifying spot. Going into the final 500 meters, Laouiti held a slight advantage for third, but Mikhaylevskiy and then Maddamma passed the Tunisian as they began their final sprints. With just a few strokes to go, the American once again picked up his rate and rowed through the Russian to earn the last spot in the final by 1.35 seconds. Ukraine's Olexandr Nadtoka won the race in a 7:02.19, with China's Wanjie Yuan finishing second in a 7:02.20. Maddamma, who recorded the fastest final 500-meter split, crossed the line in a 7:06.05, with Mikhaylevskiy stroking a 7:07.40. Maddamma became the first U.S. men's single sculler since John Lorton in 1998 to make the final at the World Rowing Junior Championships. Germany, Serbia and Poland advanced to the final out of the other semifinal.
Racing in the first of two semifinals, the women's pair of Lucy Grinalds (Southport, Conn.) and Kristine O'Brien (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) held on to finish third and earn a spot in tomorrow's final. The duo took an early lead 500 meters into the race and held second place behind Belarus through the 1,500-meter mark before China made a late charge. Belarus won the race in a 7:24.45, with China finishing second in a 7:26.72. The U.S. crossed the line in a 7:29.70, one second ahead of Bulgaria. The three crews will take on Romania, South Africa and Italy in the final.
In addition to Maddamma and the women's pair, the women's eight, men's eight and women's four also will be racing in tomorrow's finals after qualifying earlier in the week.
The men's four of Allan Amico (Orchard Park, N.Y.), Constantinos Gioulekas (Buffalo, N.Y.), Sean Johnston (Commerce, Mich.) and Ronald Rubino (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished fifth in its semifinal and will now race in tomorrow's B final for places 7-12. With three to advance to the final, the crew grabbed third place in the first 500 meters before Spain and Turkey overtook them in the second quarter of the race. Great Britain won in a 6:04.78, with Australia finishing second in a 6:07.23. Spain held off a late charge from Turkey to take third. The U.S. clocked a 6:18.56.
In the women's quadruple sculls, Kimberly Hopewell (Ridgefield, Conn.), Samantha Warren (Davis, Calif.), Alexandria Chrumka (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) and Margaret Bertasi (Weston, Conn.) finished fifth in their semifinal and will now race in the B final. With three to advance, the U.S. fell two seconds back of third place during the opening 500 meters and was unable to challenge for a qualifying position. Australia won the race in a 6:39.79, with France taking second in a 6:41.99. New Zealand clocked a 6:42.03 to finish third. The U.S. stroked a 6:47.43.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Michael Wales (Mercer Island, Wash.), Mason Leasure (Jacksonville, Fla.), Gabriel Fort (Miami Beach, Fla.) and Will Dannemann (New Canaan, Conn.) advanced to the C final with a second-place finish behind Belarus in the C/D semifinal. The U.S. came out on top of a four-way battle for the final two qualifying spots, clocking a 6:09.20. However, third place was not determined after Hungary interfered with Croatia in the final few strokes and the Croatian crew filed a protest. After the protest was upheld, Hungary was excluded which set up a re-row between Greece, which had finished third, and Croatia. Croatia won the re-row to advance to the C final, which was postponed until Saturday morning due to the extra race.
Matt Clark (Winnetka, Ill.) and Viktor Romanov (Moscow, Russia) won a three-way battle for first place in the C final of the men's pair to finish 13th overall. Clark and Romanov took a slight lead off the start, with Chile and Azerbaijan keeping close to the pace. In the final few strokes, it was the U.S. that came out on top by 0.17 seconds in a 6:54.37. Azerbaijan finished second in a 6:54.54, with Chile crossing in a 6:55.86. The U.S. boat advanced to the C final by winning its morning C/D semifinal in a 6:57.13.
The women's double sculls crew of Katie Burke (Lutz, Fla.) and Abby Knight (Clifton Park, N.Y.) easily won its C final to also finish 13th overall. Burke and Knight had taken command of the race by the midway point, building nearly a five-second lead. The duo went on to clock a 7:26.60 to win by more than eight seconds. In the morning C/D semifinal, Burke and Knight finished second in an 8:04.87 to advance.
In the women's single sculls, Nicole Bielawski (Old Westbury, N.Y.) finished third in the C final for a 15th-place finish overall. Bielawski clocked an 8:06.72 to finish behind Italy's Giada Colombo and Russia's Mayya Reznikova. Colombo won the race in a 7:59.25. Bielawski advanced to the C final with a second-place finish in her morning C/D semifinal, clocking an 8:07.97 to finish just behind Bulgaria's Toni Boteva. Boteva finished fifth in the C final.
In the junior men's double sculls, Mark Reinis (Long Beach, Calif.) and Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) won the E final to finish in 25th-place overall. Reinis and Trojan got off the line in third position, less than one second behind Moldova and Turkey. The U.S. overtook the two crews in the next 750 meters, building more than a two-second lead going into the final 500 meters. The duo crossed 2.71 seconds ahead of Turkey, finishing in a 6:45.18. Reinis and Trojan reached the E final by easily winning their morning E/F semifinal. The crew took the lead off the line and won by nearly 15 seconds, finishing in a 6:59.43.
Racing concludes on Saturday with the remaining placement finals and the grand finals beginning at 9:18 a.m. local time.