The women's eight repeated as world champions, while the men's four with coxswain also won a gold medal on Sunday, to highlight the final day of competition at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
The women's eight of coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) clocked a 6:17.20 to defeat Romania by 1.13 seconds en route its second consecutive world title. The crew, which included eight members of last year's winning boat, got off the line well and established a 0.49-second lead on second-place Canada at the 500-meter mark. At the midway point of the race, the U.S. continued to lead the Canadians by half a second, but that's when Romania began making its charge. The defending Olympic champions clocked the fastest middle 1,000 meters to move from sixth place to second position at the 1,500-meter mark, trailing the U.S. by just one second heading into the final quarter of the race. As the crews raced towards the finish line, Romania tried to challenge the U.S., but the American boat responded and went on to win the gold medal by just over one second. Romania finished second in a 6:18.33, with Great Britain winning the bronze medal with a time of 6:19.66.
"We knew it was going to be ridiculously fast, and we knew we had to be patient in the first 1,000 (meters)," Sickler said. "I think we were all kind of surprised that we were up at that point. When we passed through the 1,000, we knew that we had more, and we gradually increased the rate. With 500 to go, we knew that someone was going to have to row really hard to take it from us. It was the best race of my life so far. It was amazing."
In the men's four with coxswain, the crew of Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Chris Liwski (Sarasota, Fla.), Sam Burns (Seattle, Wash.), Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.) and Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.) passed Serbia in the final 500 meters to win the gold medal in a time of 6:10.36. The crew led at the 500-meter mark before Serbia took the top spot in the second quarter of the race. The two crews battled it out at the head of the field during the middle 1,000 meters, with Serbia holding a 0.77-second advantage going into the final quarter of the race. That's when the veteran U.S. boat, which included two Olympic gold medalists, used its power to overtake the Serbians. The crew pulled away as it crossed the finish line, winning by 0.81 seconds. Serbia finished with a time of 6:11.17, winning the silver medal. Germany brought home the bronze medal.
"We didn't know what to expect from Serbia," Liwski said. "They played it smart in the seeding heat and didn't show any of their cards. We knew that the Dutch and Germans would be quick off the line, and we just had to expect that Serbia would be the same. We went out with the intention of taking a big lead and to just use our power and our rhythm to keep it. The moves were really effective, and Ned called a great race. He didn't call it according to plan as much what we needed in the race."
The men's eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Patrick O'Dunne (Nazareth, Pa.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Brodie Buckland (Olympia, Wash.) and Alex Hearne (Princeton, N.J.) finished fourth in the final, just missing a medal. The crew got off the line in fourth position before inching into third place at the 1,000-meter mark. However, the boat from Great Britain clocked the fastest second half of the race to move from fifth place to the bronze-medal position. Canada dominated the race, clocking a 5:34.92 to win by 2.27 seconds. Germany won the silver medal in a 5:37.19, followed by Great Britain in a 5:37.95. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:41.26.
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, the crew of Carey Brezler (Waynesboro, Pa.), Sarah Bates (Garrison, N.Y.), Margaret Duggan (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Hannah Moore (Niskayuna, N.Y.) finished fourth, missing a medal by 1.50 seconds. The crew battled Great Britain for third place through the 1,000-meter mark and then challenged China for a medal position during the second half of the race. However, the U.S. crew was unable to catch the Chinese boat in the final 500 meters. Australia won the race with a time of 6:35.97, followed by Great Britain in a 6:38.78. China held on for third place, finishing with a time of 6:40.32. The U.S. clocked a 6:41.82.
Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.), Christen Brown (Tecumseh, Mich.), Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished sixth in the final of the women's quadruple sculls. The crew, which sat in fifth position through the 1,000-meter mark before dropping to sixth in the second half of the race, was unable to stay with the top four crews. Great Britain took command from the start of the race and then held off the German boat in the final 500 meters, finishing with a time of 6:30.81. Germany won the silver medal in a 6:32.02, while China finished third in a 6:33.91. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:41.02.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.), Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.), Jon D'Alba (Berwyn, Pa.) and Sam Saylor (San Diego, Calif.) finished sixth in the final. The U.S. boat sat in sixth place at each of the 500-meter splits and was unable to challenge for a medal. Italy passed France in the second half of the race to win the gold medal in a 6:01.70. France finished second in a 6:02.94, with Great Britain winning the bronze medal in a 6:03.83. The U.S. clocked a 6:11.08.
Other gold-medal winners on Sunday included Australia in the lightweight women's double sculls, Denmark in the lightweight men's double sculls, Great Britain in the lightweight men's four, Poland in the men's quadruple sculls and Italy in the men's lightweight pair.
In addition, four U.S. crews raced in the B finals for places 7-12. This year, the B finals for Olympic-class boats took on more significance as the regatta served as the primary country qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games. It did not, however, qualify individual athletes for the Games. For crews that did not qualify in Munich, a final qualification regatta will be held July 15-18, 2008, in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall. The crew got off the line well and sat in second place behind Russia at the midway point of the race. During the third 500 meters, Estonia moved into second position place, but the U.S. was able to maintain a comfortable lead on the rest of the field for third. Russia won the race in a 5:51.06, followed by Estonia in a 5:52.79. The U.S. finished third in a 5:53.95, followed by Australia, Cuba and Belarus. The top five finishers earned their countries berths in the 2008 Olympic Games.
The lightweight men's four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) and Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) finished fifth in the B final for an 11th-place finish overall, earning the U.S. a spot in the 2008 Olympics. With the top five crews earning their countries berths in the Olympics, the last 1,000 meters turned into a five-way battle for the final four qualifying spots behind Australia. In the final 250 meters, Poland, Egypt, The Netherlands and the U.S. pulled away from Ireland to secure top-five placements. Australia led the race from start to finish, clocking a 6:04.47. Poland finished second in a 6:05.66, 0.15 seconds ahead of Egypt. The Netherlands crossed the line in a 6:07.09, 0.11 seconds ahead of the United States' time of 6:07.20. Ireland finished sixth, 2.16 seconds behind the Americans.
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) and Wendy Tripician (Needham, Mass.) finished fifth in the B final for an 11th-place finish overall. The crew sat in third place through the 500-meter mark before dropping back to sixth in the middle 1,000 meters. With only two crews earning their countries Olympic berths, Canada clocked a 7:08.15 to win the race, edging Great Britain by 0.16 seconds and Japan by 0.21 seconds. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:13.09.
In the lightweight men's pair, Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) and Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.) finished fourth in the B final to place 10th overall. The duo sat in fifth position for the first 500 meters before moving into fourth place. Carcagno and Smith challenged the top three crews down the stretch, coming up just short of Canada in the final strokes. Japan won the race in a 6:46.39, with The Netherlands finishing second in a 6:47.34. The U.S. clocked a 6:48.20, finishing 0.39 seconds behind the Canadians. The lightweight men's pair is a non-Olympic event, so there were no qualification spots up for bid in the race.
In total, the U.S. qualified 11 boats for the 2008 Olympic Games, the second most of any country. In addition, all four adaptive boat classes qualified for the 2008 Paralympic Games.