The day started with US grabbing two more spots in the A Finals, and places in Paris, in emphatic fashion--with both Kara Kohler and the Women's Double winning their semis outright--and ended with a pair of medals: silver for the PR3 Mix Double and bronze for Sophia Luwis in the light single.

The US now has nine boats through to A Finals in the Olympic events, and seven crews qualified, so far--the eights can make it nine if they finish fifth or better on Sunday, and that was one of the things we talked about with USRowing High Performance Director Josy Verdonkschot on Friday morning in a feature you can find here.

On the Para side, two crews are now qualified, thanks to the silver medal performance by Todd Vogt and Gemma Wollenschlaeger in the PR3 Mix Double. The Para four will have a chance to add a medal to their Paris Qualification Saturday afternoon.

Full US results on the day:

A/B Semis (boats marked * have qualified for Olympics/Paralympics)

• W1x * - 1st in semi, to A Final (top 9 qualify for Olympics)
• W2x * - 1st in semi, to A Final (top 11 qualify for Olympics)

A Finals

• LW1x- Bronze Medal
• PR3 Mix 2x * - Silver Medal, qualified for Paralympics
• LW2- - 3rd (of 3) in A Final
• LM4x - 3rd (of 3) in A Final

B Finals

• LM1x - first in B Final

Daily (Ugh) Wind Report

Another day, another lane shift, and whoever told us yesterday that we'd seen the worst of the wind was being optimistic for sure. The forecast for the weekend does look better, but when Ollie Zeidler comes in to the flash quote dock and calls the race "a bit long," then you know the headwind is thumping.

The water held up better though, at least through the morning's session of semis, which opened with another chapter in the PR1 M1x rivalry: Italy's Giacomo Perini taking first in this round over the world champ from Ukraine, Roman Polianskyi. GB's Benjamin Pritchard won the other heat in nearly the same time, and awaits them both in the final.

The wind was gusty enough to keep blowing over the media backdrops being set up in the mixed zone for the TV cameras to use with the medal winners until they were lashed down, and the water was way worse in afternoon session. The wind peaked between 2 and 3, somewhere north of 15 miles per hour...pretty much right on time for Sophia Luwis's run to the podium.

Olympians On Parade

In the men's singles, it was all Ollie Zeidler in the first semi, but Tokyo silver medalist Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece took second and looks to be back in the mix. The Croatian Damir Martin grabbed third--for what would be his fourth trip to the Games--and promptly referenced Bob Dylan:

"I feel somewhere between water and sky, and more a little bit in the sky - knocking on heaven’s door. Really happy...the main goal this season is achieved, so every suffering, every blood, every tear paid out.”

Damir Martin

Other bold face names booking return trips to the Games on Friday included Sverri Nielsen (DEN) and Thomas Mackintosh (NZL), out of the Kiwi's gold medal eight, in the other semi of the men's single; world champ Karolien Florijn (NED) just ahead of Olympic champ Emma Twigg (NZL) in semi one of the women's single; the Sinkovic brothers and the Dutch double of Stefan Broenink and Melvin Twellaar; and the well-nigh unstoppable Romanian women's double of Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar.

Out of the running for Paris? The Canadian Men's 8 and Chinese Women's 8 altogether, and after missing the cut today, it will come down to a B Final race for the final few spots for the Dutch women's double, the Romanian men's double, Austria's Magdalena Lobnig, Germany's Alexandra Foester, and Japan's Ryuta Arakawa.

First Medal for US: Sophia Luwis

In a final that featured more "heavy metal" rowing in very chunky water, Sophia Luwis overcame a crab at the start to track down the early leaders. She briefly got up into second, but Mexico's Kenia Lechuga had a charge in her to reclaim the silver.

Neither could catch Ireland's Siobhan McCrohan, who capped off a season that featured a fourth at Euros and a silver in Lucerne behind Luwis by climbing all the way to the top of the mountain here, to the delight of the impressively large Irish cheering section, who had parked themselves right in front of the podium.

Luwis, just one year and four days on from a car crash that ended her 2022 season and put rowing, let alone medalling at a Worlds, in doubt, was thrilled with her medal. "I feel very much like I wasn't totally supposed to make it to today and we did and I can't believe I got to the podium," Luwis said. "I truly did not think this was possible until this morning, but then I said to myself, 'I think I might be able to do this.'"

"It just became about rough water rowing, who could stay cleanest. All the races I've been in so far this season, minus Henley, but in Varese and Lucerne, was all tailwind rowing. Who could get up high on the stroke rating and stay connected, and this water was opposite: go as low as you want, but stay clean, and really on with your strokes. If you could do that, then you could win.

"Yesterday, it was obvious [the water] was bad: big, bulging waves of water and then you go back to take a stroke and the water's not there. Today, it got really bad in the middle because the wind just picked up really hard and it wasn't like the water got crazy, but it just was unexpected. Not as wobbly but just stiffer wind, so you really had to keep your work low and in the legs to take advantage of maybe less bumpy water but just bigger headwind."

The silver medal won by Kenia Lechuga turns out to be the first senior Worlds medal ever for Mexico. Lechuga, who is enough of a sensation in her home country that she has 354 thousand followers on her Instagram account and was a contestant on the reality TV show Exatlón México, will be looking to make her third Olympic appearance in the openweight single next year via the Americas Qualification Regatta.

We asked her if she felt like she needed to row like an openweight in today's conditions, and she said, "when it is like this, yes!"

First Silver Ever for PR3 Mix 2x

Todd Vogt and Gemma Wollenschlaeger powered through the wind to give the US its best finish to date in the PR3 mixed double, and earned the Para squad their second spot at the Paris Paralympics next summer.

With the boat class becoming a Paralympic event for the first time in Paris, qualifying the boat by finishing in the top five was job one, but the US came off the line in a strong second place behind Australia, and never looked back.

"We had a good start," said Vogt, who finished fifth in this same event last year. "We were with the front pack and we pushed away right off the bat with Australia and France. I remember at a 1000 meters, I saw we were in second and thought, 'Holy cow. How did this happen?' I kept expecting everybody else to make a move the whole time [until] we were in the red buoys."

"With the times so close in all the heats and the reps, we just didn't really know what to expect," Wollenschlaeger said, "But we really just believed in ourselves and trusted the training that we've done. At the start, I was just thinking, 'Trust the Process.' Just trust it. We got this."

"We really worked on our start" she added. "We knew we had a good base and we're thought, we just need to be more aggressive off that start, and that's what we did."

Kohler Storms Back to A Final with a Win

Kara Kohler rowed a patient and savvy race to move through the early leaders, and rating just a few beats higher than the Aussie Tara Rigney paid off when Kohler passed her in the last 500 for the win. This will be the third A Final in the single for two-time Olympian Kohler, who won a bronze in 2019 as the US sculler.

"At this point now I’ve experienced all the highs and lows of rowing the single," said Kohler afterwards, "so to be back in the A Final is such a relief."

"It's only you in the boat, so if your head's not in the right place, the boat speed is going to suffer. Trying to get my head in the right place has been a big focus this season."

"That focus has been pretty simple: focusing on what I can control, not getting distracted by anything that's going on around me, and knowing that I want to race the single. That's been my goal, and that just makes it simple.

"As long as I'm confident in myself and trust that I have all the tools to be a contender for crossing the line first, that's all that matters. I've wavered on that belief a little bit last couple years.

"I wanted to add the single to the USA tally of qualifying boats, and when you do start to doubt yourself, it's good to turn to those external focal points. You are still part of a team. You want to contribute this boat class placement. And I have a close inner circle that cheers me on and that's all I need to fuel me."

Women's Double Returns to A Final

Sophia Vitas and Kristie Wagner booked a return ticket to the A Final in their second year together as a crew--and this year, of course, it came with the bonus of Paris qualification.

Vitas and Wagner took 5th in the Racice Worlds final and then won a silver medal in Varese this summer. Today, they took control in the second 500 for the win over Ireland and a field that include the Chinese double which beat them at the World Cup. The Irish gave them--and the crowd--a real charge in the last 750, but Vitas and Wagner held on with aplomb to take the win.

That measurable improvement since Varese comes down to when Vitas and Wagner got back into the double this season after rowing and training with their home clubs and in other combinations.

"We really hadn't rowed that much together, Sofia and I, in the double," said Wagner about the run up to Varese. "We were mostly training for the quad during the first camp in Europe, so we really hadn't done that much stuff in the double.

"It has been getting better and it's been a really great collaborative effort, working with Josy [Verdonkschot] and Eric Catalano. It's exciting because I think individually and together, we're both better athletes this year.

"There a lot of fast boats in the US system, and it's been fun getting to race not only the lightweight women's double, which we race all the time, but all of the boats, and comparing ourselves on percentages to them.

"That gives you confidence but also, of course, nerves because you know what you can do, but you have no idea what other people can do. I wouldn't say we've been overly confident, but we know what we are capable of. That gives you a little bit of comfort, knowing you don't have to go outside yourself in a performance."

Notes from the Course

Best Flash Dock Quote, Hands Down

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Lifeguard Life: We mentioned it earlier in the week: the course is lined with lifeguards, watching over the closed and empty beaches...but they sure have good seats for the rowing, whew.

Qualification in the time of AIN (Individual Neutral Athlete) athletes: If an AIN rower were to finish in one of the Olympic qualification spots, the spot would be put 'on hold' until the IOC rules on the status of those athletes. If the nation is allowed to compete in Paris, then the spot would be allocated based on the results here in Belgrade; if the nation is not allowed to compete, the spot would go to the next finisher. There is a significant meeting in October, at which time some anticipate a ruling being made.

Revisions on Revisions: The jury (and the media staff that distributes the new heat sheets) is working overtime to keep up with the conditions; there were three schedule and/or lane updates before the start of finals today.

Mix and Match? The two Lithuanian scullers in the women's double seem to have some strong preferences when it come to oar manufacturers:

Empty Lanes? There were open lanes in the middle of the course in at least two events today due to withdrawals, and another one or two yesterday; we do wonder why, especially if fairness is an issue and racing lanes are being moved around, you wouldn't move everyone into adjacent lanes all together in the fairest racing lanes?

Redemption Row: Swiss sculler Andri Struzina won the light men's single today...pretty sweet redemption after flipping last year at Worlds.

'The heartbeat is crazy!' Before the start of each race, they announce the event and competitors, play a little music, and the music fades to only the sound of a heartbeat booming over the PA. As we bolted through the medals area on the way back to photograph the next final, we overheard a parent exclaim 'The heartbeat is crazy!'

De-dum-dum-de-de-dum... Yep, it is not really a Worlds till you hear the earworm that is the Italian National Anthem, so thanks to the LM2- for that, ha.