LAC AIGUEBELETTE, France - If there were such a thing as a utility player in women's rowing, it would have to be Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash).
She was substituted into the women's quad at the second world cup in Varese, Italy, and helped the U.S. to a bronze medal. Then when she had an injury herself and had to be taken out of the quad for the 2015 World Rowing Championships, she was offered a spot in the women's four.
On Friday, she joined Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Grace Latz (Jackson, Mich.) and Kristine O'Brien (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) in the United States Training Center - Princeton crew that won gold on Lake Aiguebelette, France, the first of three medals won by the U.S. on Friday.
"When I talked to the coaches and they gave me the opportunity to come into the four, I was really just happy to be racing here," said Martelli. "It's been such a fun boat to just hop into. It was great and I'm thankful."
In addition to the women's four, California Rowing Club lightweight women's single sculler Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) repeated as the bronze medalist in her event and the U.S. lightweight men's eight took bronze in its final.
Prior to the medal races, Cambridge Boat Club women single sculler Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.) finished third in her semifinal and not only advanced to her Sunday final, but qualified the boat class for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. In total, 13 U.S. crews were in competition Friday.
Starting the medals racing was the women's four. The U.S. jumped into the lead from the start and rowed ahead of the field the length of the race, winning in 6:25.22. Great Britain was second in 6:31.52, and China was third in 6:35.56.
"We're excited because yesterday the U.S. had its first medal of the regatta with the (legs, trunk and arms four with coxswain) and we're just building from that and really excited for the rest of the regatta," said Luczak.
Next to medal was Bertko, who fought her way down the course in second place, trying to catch and pass New Zealand's Zoe McBride. Bertko got close, but couldn't get by and was passed in the last 500 meters by Great Britain's Imogen Walsh.
New Zealand won in 7:32.45. Walsh was second in 7:33.99 and Bertko finished in 7:34.58.
"I was really focused on my own race, and I wanted to be brave and be gutsy. And I tried," she said. "I had really great competitors and they kind of took me to it and that was what I was trying to do. It's always nice to medal, but it was a tough race. I was fighting for it."
In the lightweight men's eight, the composite crew of coxswain Jack Carlson (Weston, Mass.) of Oxford Brookes University Boat Club and New York AC, Matthew Lenhart (Lafayette, Calif.) of California Rowing Club, Dave Smith (Seattle, Wash.) of Virginia Rowing Association, Alex Twist (Seattle, Wash.) of Seattle Rowing Center, Philip Henson (Somerset, N.J.) of Craftsbury and Community Rowing, Inc., Peter Schmidt (Providence, R.I.) of Riverside Boat Club, Christopher Lambert (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) of Malta Boat Club, Jack Devlin (Arlington, Va.) of CRI and Tobin McGee (Rye, N.Y.) of New York Athletic Club and Riverside Boat Club, rowed in a tight pack the length of the race and finished with a bronze medal in 5:40.41. Germany won in 5:38.92, and France was second in 5:40.14.
"It was an awesome race, super close," said Carlson. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack in the last five hundred meters, just looking across and seeing Italy and knowing it was going to be super, super tight, but knowing that we could pull it off."
The USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's pair of Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) and Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) rowed in the final of their event and finished fifth in 6:37.46. Great Britain won in 6:29.40. France was second in 6:32.02 and Germany was third in 6:43.53.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, Newport Aquatic Center's Nicholas Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) rowed in the final of his event and finished fifth in 6:58.48. New Zealand won in 6:53.80. Slovenia was second in 6:54.59 and Serbia was third in 6:55.88.
The composite lightweight men's quadruple sculls 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 rowed in the final and finished fifth in 5:55.86. France won in 5:48.50. Germany was second in 5:48.81 and Denmark was third in 5:50.41.
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, the Riverside Boat Club's Erin Roberts (Fogelsville, Pa.), Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.), Mary Foster (Sharon, Mass.) and Lauren Ayers (Portland, Maine) finished sixth in 6:35.89. Germany won in 6:25.10. Great Britain was second in 6:27.07 and The Netherlands was third in 6:28.27.
Prior to the finals racing, the U.S. had three crews in semifinals, including the lightweight men's four, women's double sculls and women's single sculls.
In the women's single, Stone finished third in her semifinal and reached her first world championship final.
Rowing in fourth through the first five hundred, Stone moved into third and held, finishing in 7:27.39. Mirka Knapkova of Czech Republic was second in 7:26.48 and Jingli Duan of China won in 7:24.41.
Australia's Kim Crow, Switzerland's Jeannine Gmelin and Canada's Carling Zeeman will join them in the Sunday final.
"I had a really solid race and I was confident in my ability to execute my race plan," Stone said. "I'm thrilled to have made the A final and to have quailed the boat, especially after being in Bled (at the 2011 World Rowing Championships) and not qualifying. I'm excited to be racing in my first world championship final."
In the women's double sculls, the USTC - Oklahoma city crew of Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.) rowed in the semifinal of their event, but finished out of the medal round, crossing in fifth in 6:54.97. They row in the B final Sunday with a chance to qualify the boat class for the 2016 Olympic Games. A top-eleven finish here is required to do that.
New Zealand won the semi in 6:52.35. Lithuania was second in 6:53.48 and Great Britain was third in 6:54.11.
The USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's four of William Daly (Vail, Colo.), Edward King (Ironton, Mo.), Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) rowed in the next semifinal for the U.S. Falling behind from the start, the U.S. rowed in sixth place and finished there in 6:05.12. Switzerland won in 5:51.35. France was second in 5:54.55 and Italy was third in 5:55.87.
They row again in the Sunday B final and have an opportunity to qualify the boat class for 2016 by beating one crew. A top-eleven overall finish is required to qualify for Rio.
Rowing in the B final of their event, the composite men's pair with coxswain 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, rowed in a two-boat race against Italy and finished second for eighth place overall.
The Craftsbury Sculling Center men's double sculls of John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) finished second in the C/D semifinal of their event and will row in the C final on Saturday.
Men's single sculler Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) finished sixth in the C/D semifinal and is scheduled to race in the D final on Saturday.