LAC AIGUEBELETTE, France - Coming into the last few hundred meters in the men's eight repechage Wednesday, the United States was in second, a few seats ahead of New Zealand. With just two spots to make the final and The Netherlands in the lead, it was critical for the U.S to hold onto second place.
Only five boats can qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games from the 2015 World Rowing Championships on Lake Aigubelette, France, and it seemed like the U.S. was going to hold. But the Kiwis were surging. The U.S. crowd in the finish line grandstands responded to the pressure, loudly cheering their support.
It was not enough. New Zealand moved past the U.S. and took the last advancing placement and the Americans in the stands went silent. The U.S. will now have to regroup through the next eight months and focus on qualifying for the Olympics at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, May 22-26 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The day's ending was not reflective of how the rest of Wednesday racing went for the U.S. team. Of seventeen crews in competition, 12 advanced, five claimed their place in the finals. Of those two qualified their boats for the 2016 Paralympic Games.
The U.S. reached the finals in the women's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls. The women's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls, women's double sculls, men's and women's lightweight double sculls, men's pair and lightweight men's four all reached the semifinal of their events. There were standout performances all day.
In addition the U.S. women's four won its race for lane placement to start the day.
But it was not to be for one of the top priority U.S. boat classes. The USTC - Princeton crew of coxswain Zach Vlahos (Piedmont, Calif.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Alex Karwoski (Hollis, N.H.), Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.), Matt Miller (Fairfax, Va.), Sam Dommer (Folsom, Calif.), Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) finished third in 5:28.48. The Netherlands won the rep in 5:25.28, and New Zealand was second in 5:26.78.
And now, for the second consecutive Olympic cycle, the U.S. will have to focus resources on advancing a men's eight to the Olympics with a top-two finish at the final qualifying regatta, an effort USRowing High Performance Director Curtis Jordan said, will happen.
"I'm highly disappointed," Jordan said. "I think, clearly, the men's eight is an event we are very proud of, and we're disappointed that they didn't get into the finals. We knew going into this that this was going to be one of the most highly competitive events here and maybe one of the most highly competitive eights events that I've seen in the last eight years, as far as the depth.
"There have been some faster crews out there, but the depth going down through was visible. When you see that Poland did not make it, that we didn't make it, and then add in a couple of really strong crews, the Italians, who surprised everybody, and the Dutch, who have had a great regatta here, it was visibly a very deep field," he said.
"So, we're really disappointed. But our goal is the Olympics, and we will do everything possible to bolster that boat," he said. "I have complete confidence in the athletes that we have. I have complete confidence in the coach that we have, and we will be doing everything possible to focus on that boat coming into the Olympic year and to make that a boat we can put on the podium."
While it ended in silence, the day started on a high note for the lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls.
The lightweight men's composite crew of Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) of Cambridge Boat Club, Hugh McAdam (Grantham, N.H.) of Green Racing Project, Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.) of Malta Boat Club and Matt O'Leary (Westwood, Mass.) of Megunticook Rowing went first. Needing a top-two finish to advance from its repechage, the U.S. was one spot out crossing into the third five hundred meters. With Australia ahead and running out of room, the crew knew it was time to turn it up, or settle for the B final.
"We were really trying to have an aggressive one thousand (meters) and that didn't happen, and we had to sprint," said Ethridge. "It was kind of 'do or die' and we chose to do it. We're excited." They row in Friday's final for a chance at the podium.
The U.S. crew crossed the line in 5:59.96, less than a second behind Great Britain's winning time of 5:59.02.
The lightweight women's Riverside Boat Club crew of Erin Roberts (Fogelsville, Pa.), Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.), Mary Foster (Sharon, Mass.) and Lauren Ayers (Portland, Maine) followed. They were also facing a top-two qualification to advance from the repechage, and like the men, they were out by one spot halfway down the course. They did not wait for the closing quarter and pulled into second in the third five hundred meters and advanced to the Friday final in 6:38.31 to China's 6:35.63.
"Today we just decided to be more aggressive," said Saeger. "The first race that we did, we kind of went off too conservative. So we brought the power this time, and we hope to bring the power to the next race and be a little cleaner. Hopefully that will add up to a stronger race."
In the lightweight men's single sculls, Newport Aquatic Center sculler Nicholas Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) rowed in the quarterfinal of his event. He did not get the start he was hoping for, but managed to recover and advance to the Thursday semifinal in second place with a time of 7:03.38 to Great Britain's Jamie Kirkwood, who won in 7:01.02. Croatia's Luka Radonic was third in 7:10.19.
"I fell back in the first five hundred. My goal from there was to just get back in the pack and then make my way to a qualifying position," Trojan said. "Luckily, that came before the thousand, so I was able to regroup, reload and take charge of the race. Once I got into that second-place position, my goal was to stay there and hold onto it and maybe work back, but just get to the next race and move on."
Also advancing to the semifinals was the USTC - Princeton men's pair crew of Tim Aghai (Skokie, Ill.) and Michael DiSanto (Boston, Mass.), who were rowing in the first quarterfinal. Rowing out of fifth place in the first five hundred, the U.S. moved into third and held off repeated attacks from Germany to advance to the Thursday semifinal. The U.S. finished third in 6:32.59. New Zealand won in 6:26.71. The Netherlands was second in 6:31.55.
"It was a pretty quick start," DiSanto said. "We were out in some rough water and then it took us a little while to find our composure and get in our rhythm. New Zealand and the Dutch had gotten out, but we stayed level with Chili on our right and the Germans far to our left. We just kind of pulled ahead around fifteen hundred and then sprinted."
After the pair, Cambridge Boat Club's lightweight men's double of Joshua Konieczny (Millbury, Ohio) and Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.) put another U.S. crew in the Thursday semifinals. Campbell and Konieczny rowed in second the length of the course and finished in 6:24.38. South Africa won in 6:22.97. Greece qualified in third with a 6:27.55.
"It went well," said Campbell. "It was a little bit bumpy in the middle of the course, but I think we handled it well. Josh is a resilient guy. It's nice to row with him. We knew coming in that, to make it to the A final, we would have to beat one very good crew in the semifinal, and I think that is still true. But I think we are also a good crew, so it will be fun to see what happens."
In the lightweight women's double, the Vesper Boat Club crew of Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) and Devery Karz (Park City, Utah) also advanced to the Thursday semifinals from the quarterfinal. Rowing out of fourth in the first five hundred, Sechser and Karz moved into second in the middle of the race. They were eventually passed by Russia, but held onto the qualifying spot, finishing third in 7:17.89. South Africa's Ursula Grobler and Kirsten McCann won in 7:14.22. Russia was third in 7:17.56.
In the women's quadruple sculls, the USTC - Princeton crew of Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.), Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and Amanda Elmore (West Lafayette, Ind.) needed a top-two finish in its repechage to advance into the semifinal and they got that, finishing second in 6:27.28. Poland advanced in front of them in 6:26.75.
The USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's four crew of William Daly (Vail, Colo.), Edward King (Ironton, Mo.), Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) also needed a top-two finish to advance from the repechage. Rowing in just their second international race as a crew, the U.S. held first place crossing into the second half, but were passed by The Netherlands. Still, they finished where they needed to and advanced in second in 6:10.86. The Dutch won in 6:05.73.
"We were inefficient," said Fahden. "The Dutch are really slick, and you can just sense in the middle of the piece that they are working just a little less hard. They are known for having a very efficient sprint, which they had today. Advancing was step one and that was accomplished, but obviously the goal was to win that rep and we did not accomplish that, so we definitely need to make a positive change if we're going to make the A final from the semi."
In the women's single sculls, Cambridge Boat Club's Gevvie Stone (Newton Mass.) advanced into the semifinal from her quarterfinal. Stone rowed off the line in fourth place, but chased down the pack and pushed into second by the thousand. Australia's Kim Crow ran out front the length of the race and won in 7:26.93. Stone was second in 7:31.56, and Lina Saltyte of Lithuania was third in 7:32.71. She will row in the Friday semifinals.
"There was crosswind in the first thousand, and so I was just focusing on being clean and kicking it along for that first thousand," she said. "It wasn't really until the thousand that things flattened out, and I really felt like I was able to kick it into gear and move the boat effectively.
"It was a really good second thousand, and I was able to execute it and it went as I hoped it would go. And now Friday is going to be ridiculous," she said.
In the first event of the day, the USTC - Princeton women's four of Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.), Grace Latz (Jackson, Mich.) and Kristine O'Brien (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) rowed in a race for lane placement in the Friday finals. The U.S. was out in first the length of the course and crossed in 6:41.04 ahead of the second-place British crew that finished in 6:45.41. China was third in 6:49.91.
In the men's pair with coxswain, the composite crew of Jacob Mendelson (Jacksonville, Fla.) of Vesper Boat Club, Erick Winstead (Fairfield, Conn.) of Penn Athletic Club and Taylor Brown (Winter Park, Fla.) of Vesper Boat Club finished fifth in the repechage in 7:11.38 and will row in the B final on Friday. Belarus won in 7:00.62. Serbia was second in 7:02:04, just ahead of South Africa in third with a 7:02.66.
In the men's single sculls, Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) finished sixth in his quarterfinal with a time of 7:25.99 and is scheduled to row in a C/D semifinal on Friday.