After winning the silver medal in the women's four at last year's world junior championships, Chandler Lally (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Lucy Grinalds (Southport, Conn.) and Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) made a pact to turn silver into gold this year.
On Saturday at the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships in Eton, England, the three women and junior national team rookie Mia Croonquist (Vashon, Wash.) achieved that goal, winning in wire-to-wire fashion and giving the U.S. its first gold medal in the event since 2000.
"I'm super, super excited," said Eiffert, who got to celebrate her birthday on the medal stand. "It's been my goal all year to win the gold. It made it extra special since it's my birthday. It just seemed so surreal at the start. I'm just happy that we won."
In the heat, the crew used a strong first 250 meters to establish its lead, and Saturday's race was no different. Once again, the U.S. grabbed an early lead on the field and continued to build on its margin through the 1,500-meter mark.
"I think we were confident going in, but I don't think we were over confident," Eiffert said. "We knew we had to get a quick 250, which we had shown in the heat."
Holding nearly a three-second advantage going into the final 500 meters, the U.S. watched both Great Britain and New Zealand try to mount challenges down the stretch, but the crew was able to maintain a safe lead and came home with a 1.76-second victory over the host nation.
"I'm ecstatic right now. I can't believe it all came together. I've been nervous about it for the past month, but I've been visualizing it every day," said Grinalds, a four-time junior national team member. "When we started, I was like, 'Is this actually starting.' After we crossed the first 500 and saw that we were up, we were so happy. We just kept pushing it and pushing it, and we had open water going into the last 500. It just feels like my four years have paid off."
In the end, the U.S. finished with a time of 6:48.77, with Great Britain taking silver in a 6:50.53. New Zealand won bronze in a 6:51.36.
"It was the most fun boat that I have ever coached," said women's head coach Liz Trond. "We had one bad warm-up that I can remember in Princeton, but still had a great practice, and one mediocre practice since they came together June 15th. They have been healthy, tried hard, had great attitudes, and I think this is a result of amazing hard work."
With nine junior national teams appearances between the three veterans in the boat, the tone was set from the moment people arrived at camp and it paid off with a world title.
"Amazing leadership and amazing leadership to the team," said Trond about Lally, Grinalds and Eiffert. "Everybody wanted to be in the straight four because they wanted to be with the athletes who worked the hardest every stroke, all the time. We heard that comment a lot from people at camp. They are very fun athletes off the water but this year, even better than last year, they brought a sense of maturity and how to have fun and train hard."
While the women's four was the only medal of the day, the women's quadruple sculls just missed the podium, finishing a best-ever fourth, only 0.56 seconds behind Romania.
The crew of Nancy Miles (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Lizzy Youngling (Westport, Conn.), Erin Reelick (Brookfield, Conn.) and MacKenzi Sherman (Los Alamitos, Calif.) got off the line in sixth position and was still trailing the field as it entered the second half of the race. That's when the U.S. boat made its move, clocking the fastest third 500 meters of the field and moving into a virtual dead heat with The Netherlands for third as the crews entered the final quarter of the race.
The Dutch boat and the U.S. continued to battle each other and push Romania for second place through the final 500 meters. At the line, The Netherlands took silver, while Romania held off the U.S. for bronze. Germany controlled the race from start to finish, winning gold in a time of 6:31.07. The Netherlands finished in a 6:34.48, with Romania clocking a 6:35.23. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 6:35.79.
"It was a great race. It's one of the best performances of the quad (ever), so we're really happy with it," said Reelick. "But, it's so hard to be that close and not be able to get the medal. We were really happy with the race. We executed exactly the way we wanted to and that's the best we could do. We put it all out there."
Although the boat just missed a medal, it did show the progress that the sculling program has made over the past couple of years.
"You look at last year's result, and they did really well, reaching the A final (for the first time)," Reelick said. "Every year it is progressing and progressing. I think that's really due to our coach Guenter (Beutter). He's done a great job with the program, and I think it is just going to keep progressing."
The U.S. men's eight of coxswain Max Blumenthal (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Alex Perkins (Westport, Conn.), Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport, Conn.), Patrick Eble (Fort Washington, Pa.), Zach Hershberger (Los Gatos, Calif.), Harry Holroyd (Piedmont, Calif.), Stephen Podwojski (Cincinnati, Ohio), Greg Schneiter (Latham, N.Y.) and Hunter Leeming (Sarasota, Fla.) finished fifth in its final.
Italy took the lead in the first 500 meters and built a four-second advantage on the field at the midway point. Great Britain tried to hunt down the Italian crew but could never really challenge their lead. Italy won the race in a 5:41.83, with the British boat finishing in a 5:44.54. Germany won the bronze medal. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:50.78.
In the final of the women's pair, Rosie Grinalds (Southport, Conn.) and Corinne Bozzini (Lafayette, Calif.) finished sixth. France got off the line in first place before the Italian pair, sisters Giorgia and Serena Lo Bue, took over the top spot in the second 500 meters. The Italians continued to pull away from the rest of the field, winning by 4.20 seconds in a 7:25.38. Germany and Greece won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The U.S. duo finished with a time of 7:36.86.
Prior to Saturday's finals, three U.S. crews raced in semifinals with the hope of advancing to tomorrow's finals.
In the men's pair, Michael Evans (Portland, Ore.) and Austen Bolves (North Bend, Wash.) finished fifth in their semifinal. After rowing in fifth for the first half of the race, the duo moved into fourth position in the third 500 meters and tried to challenge Serbia for a spot in the top three. Romania won the race in a 6:46.74, with Serbia taking second in a 6:50.62. South Africa claimed the last qualifying spot. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:55.46 and will now race in the B final on Sunday.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Ben Delaney (Windermere, Fla.), Ned Benning (Weston, Mass.), Jonathan Young (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jonathon Rosow (Avon, Conn.) started off in fifth place and maintained that position the entire way down the course. Germany took control of the race in the first 500 meters, with The Netherlands and Hungary establishing second and third, respectively, early in the race as well. Great Britain challenged the top crews over the second 1,000 meters, but the three leaders were able to maintain their spots through the finish line. Germany won with a time of 5:56.89, followed by The Netherlands in a 5:58.62 and Hungary in a 5:59.39. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:09.76 and will now race in Sunday's B final.
A slow start doomed the women's double sculls tandem of Hannah Solis-Cohen (New York, N.Y.) and Maria Maydan (Ridgefield, Conn.). Racing in the first semifinal, Solis-Cohen and Maydan dropped to sixth in the first 500 meters and were never able to get back into contention for a spot in the final. Canada clocked the quickest second half of the race to move from fifth to first, crossing the line in a 7:16.96. France and South Africa finished second and third, respectively. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:27.58 and will race in the B final on Sunday.
The U.S. also had five crews race in placement finals on Saturday.
The men's four with coxswain of Sean Dougherty (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), Stuart Maeder (Washington, D.C.), Matt Milner (San Francisco, Calif.), Jordan Vanderstoep (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Sam Helms (Snohomish, Wash.) finished second in the B final for an eighth-place finish overall. Serbia built a one-second lead in the first 500 meters of the race and then held that margin the entire way down the course, clocking a 6:32.29 to win by 0.89 seconds. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:33.18.
Patrick Konttinen (Tiburon, Calif.), Kaess Smit (St. Louis, Mo.), Alex Johnson (Seattle, Wash.) and Greig Stein (Kentfield, Calif.) finished sixth in the B final of the men's four for a 12th-place finish overall. The U.S. got off to a solid start, trailing the leaders from Greece by less than one second 500 meters into the race. But, the crew was unable to keep in contact in the second 500 meters, dropping to fourth. Greece went on to win the race in a 6:12.79. The U.S. clocked a 6:21.34.
In the women's single sculls, Sophie Heywood (Tempe, Ariz.) finished third in the C final for a 15th-place finish overall. Heywood sat in third the entire race, finishing with a time of 8:24.69. Greece won the race in an 8:18.50.
The men's double sculls tandem of Graham Anderson (Weston, Conn.) and Charles Campbell (New Canaan, Conn.) finished sixth in the C final for an 18th-place finish overall. In a tight race, all six crews were within 2.55 seconds of each other going into the last 500 meters. Norway won the race in a 6:46.97, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:52.68.
In the men's single sculls, Ryan Allen (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finished third in the D final for a 21st-place finish overall. Allen led off the start and held second position through the 1,000-meter mark, before dropping to third. South Africa's James Johnston won the race in a 7:24.00. Chile finished second, followed by Allen in a 7:27.97.
Racing concludes on Sunday starting at 9:00 a.m. local time with finals in the men's pair, women's double sculls, men's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, women's single sculls, men's single sculls and women's eight. The U.S. will have the women's eight racing for a medal.