LAC AIGUEBELETTE, France - Eleanor Logan and Felice Mueller could easily see the entire women's pair field behind them, with the lead they had in the opening race Thursday morning at the 2015 World Rowing Championships on Lake Aiguebelette, France.
By the time they hit the thousand meter point, about halfway through their semifinal, the closest boat to the United States Training Center - Princeton crew was South Africa, and they were nearly five seconds behind them. But Logan said they didn't notice how far out they were.
"I'm sure neither of us realized that, because we were so internal," she said. "And then, once we did realize that, we just wanted to keep going, keep focusing on ourselves." It worked. Logan and Mueller cruised to the finish line and reached two important goals.
They made the Saturday final, winning in 7:07.64. South Africa was second in 7:14.41 and Canada finished third in 7:17.39. But they had also just qualified their boat class for the 2016 Olympic Games. They needed a top-eleven finish, and they got more than that.
"That's one of, if not the biggest goal for our whole team, to qualify as many boats as we can," said Logan. "That was our biggest goal, and I definitely feel good about that. But the regatta still goes on."
They get to race for medals against the two boats from their race and the semifinal that followed, including the unbeaten British crew of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, and New Zealand and Denmark.
The race was a good start for the U.S., and was followed by three other crews that reached the final in their events, including the lightweight men's pair and lightweight men's and women's single sculls.
Six of the other crews of the ten that raced in nine semifinals and one quarterfinal did not advance. But those crews will still have a chance to qualify their Olympic boat classes for 2016, including the men's double sculls, lightweight men's and women's double sculls, men's quadruple sculls, men's pair and men's four.
The USTC - Princeton men's four of Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.) and Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.) came into the regatta a favorite to medal. They had won gold at the second world cup this spring and had three of the crew that won bronze in the event at the 2012 Olympic Games in the boat.
But a virus that had struck two crew members this week forced coach Bryan Volpenhein to substitute Cole and replace him with Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) who had raced in the men's eight repechage Wednesday. James was in the boat last year when the U.S. won silver. They rowed in third for three quarters of the race, but were passed in the final quarter by both Germany and Russia and finished fifth.
The Netherlands won in 5:54.26. Australia was second in 5:54.84, and Germany was third in 5:56.50. They race in the B final on Saturday with the goal of qualifying the boat. A top-eleven overall finish is needed for that.
"That was a really bad break," Volpenhein said. "At this level, any change like that, when you have one guy sick, can make a huge difference, and that's an example of it. Even with a guy that's been in there before. When the crews are on around you, and you have one bad day, it's tough. Especially when you lose the guy that's been your top guy all year, it makes it tough.
"There's a lot of reasons, a lot of excuses, we can come up with for that, but the fact is, we lost a race and now we have to regroup and qualify this boat, get back on Saturday and see if we can win the B final and get some sort of redemption."
One crew that will not need redemption is the USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's pair of Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) and Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.). Rowing in second for much of the race, they were passed by France and Germany, but held off a sprint by Spain to move on and finish third by 0.45 seconds in 6:41.01. France won in 6:39.70, and Germany was second in 6:40.46.
They are the first U.S. lightweight men's pair to reach a world championship final since 2003.
"We had a good first half and our base speed was pretty strong," said Prendes. "We were with France and Germany the whole way down, and it seemed like it was going to be a good margin, but then Spain just came out of nowhere. So if your back's against the wall, you're going to go for it, right? And so that just pushed us a little bit, but I think we could have been a little better prepared for that," he said.
"We saw Spain coming in," Gibson said. "We thought we were going to be a little more comfortable. But I'm glad we had enough, and that was good."
Next to move on was Newport Aquatic Center lightweight men's single sculler Nicholas Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.). Trojan was trailing in fourth coming into the last quarter of the race, but then put on a sprint that surprised even him, finishing in third in 7:03.81. Slovenia won in 7:02.72. Serbia was second in 7:03.72.
"I knew I had a good sprint in me to push the guys, and I kind of depended on that," Trojan said. "Luckily, it went my way today. I was very, very fortunate to have the Serbian guy next to me because I didn't see (Italy) until the final stroke.
"It was kind of a surprise," he said. "I thought I had not made it, and I looked over past the Serbian and saw the Italian and thought, 'Oh my God, I've got it.' I looked up at the screen and saw that it went my way. I'm stoked for tomorrow."
In the lightweight women's single sculls, California Rowing Club's Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) led the length of the race and won her semifinal in 7:42.87. Great Britain was second in 7:44.96 and Germany was third in 7:52.43. The three advancing scullers will be joined in tomorrow's final by New Zealand, Brazil and Italy.
In the men's pair, the USTC - Princeton crew of Tim Aghai (Skokie, Ill.) and Michael DiSanto (Boston, Mass.) were in the third qualifying spot for the final at the halfway point and fought Italy for the second half. In the end, Italy took third, less than two seconds ahead of the U.S., which finished fourth in 6:33.65. New Zealand's Hamish Bond and Eric Murray won in 6:26.60. Serbia was second in 6:30.27 and Italy was third in 6:32.14.
The U.S. will race in the B final tomorrow and attempt to qualify the boat class for 2016. They need a top-eleven overall finish to do that.
"It was a good race," said DiSanto. "It's disappointing to get nipped there at the very end, but I think Tim and I probably had our best race to date. All things considered, six weeks in the boat, racing against guys who have been in the Olympics and done well, it was good. We have to get over this one quickly and refocus immediately for the B final and qualify the boat."
In lightweight men's double sculls, the Cambridge Boat club crew of Joshua Konieczny (Millbury, Ohio) and Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.) finished out of the running for the final and will also have to try and qualify the boat in the B final Saturday. Campbell and Konieczy finished fourth in 6:18.76. Great Britain won in 6:15.21. Norway was second in 6:16.71 and Germany was third in 6:17.98.
"We're not feeling super pleased about the result," Konieczny said. "But we can still qualify. That's the focus." They will need a top-eleven finish overall.
Also rowing the B final Saturday and seeking a top-eleven overall finish to qualify the boat class will be Vesper Boat Club's Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) and Devery Karz (Park City, Utah). Sechser and Karz finished fifth in their semifinal with a time of 7:02.44 on Thursday. New Zealand won in 6:58.35. Great Britain was second in 6:59.52 and Germany was third in 7:00.09.
In the first of the men's quadruple sculls semifinals, the California Boat Club crew of Ian Silveira (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Hans Struzyna (Kirkland, Wash.), John Madura (West Milford, N.J.) and Derek Johnson (Hillsborough, Calif.) finished sixth in 5:54.93 and will race in the B final Sunday. Lithuania won in 5:46.17. Australia was second in 5:46.40, and Switzerland was third in 5:46.59.
They will need a top-eight finish overall to qualify the Olympic-class boat.
m2xIn the final race of the morning, Craftsbury Sculling Center men's double sculls crew of John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) finished fourth in its quarterfinal in 6:24.94 and row in the C semifinal on Friday. Lithuania won in 6:16.46. Australia was second in 6:19.31 and Italy was third in 6:21.56. The U.S. needed a top-eleven finish to qualify the boat for 2016.