Meghan O'Leary managed a smile when she said hhad survived her morning on Mercer Lake.
O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.) and Beijing Olympian Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) had just raced in the semifinal of the women's double sculls event in National Selection Regatta 1. Theirs was the last event that got off the line Thursday morning before increasing winds forced the cancellation of the remaining races.
"Those were probably the craziest racing conditions we've been in, and last year's NSR was pretty rough too. But this tops the cake,"쳌 said O'Leary, who finished first and advanced to the Saturday final. "We finished first and that was the goal. We raced as clean as possible. We had a little mishap at the top 500 [meters], but we managed to get it back."쳌
The challenging conditions were expected and racing was moved up by 30 minutes to begin at 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. When the first event went off, the water on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., was already choppy and the air chilly.
The first three of the five scheduled events—the men's andd women's pair semifinals, men's and women's double sculls semifinals and lightweight men's single sculls heats""were run, but the wind continued to build and the men's double sculls semifinal and lightweight men's single heats were canceled.
The cancellation of the heats forced an elimination of that round of racing in the lightweight men's single, and as a result, the first 12 athletes of the 16 that raced in the time trial Wednesday were advanced directly to two semifinals. The remaining athletes will race in a C final.
The three events that were held were selection events with significant implications for crews attempting to earn a spot on the U.S. team that will race August 29-Sept. 6 at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France.
More than 140 athletes from 21 clubs from across the country began competition Wednesday morning in one of five selection events or four speed order events. The NSR 1 events being contested this week are the men's and women's pair, men's and women's double sculls and lightweight women's double sculls.
For these athletes, this is the first step on the path to a berth on the U.S. team. A win here means the opportunity to race at one of the 2015 World Rowing Cup events and a chance to be nominated to the senior national team.
For the men's pair and men's and women's double, a top-seven finish at a world cup will earn them a spot on the national team. If there are fewer than 12 entries in the event, they must finish within 50 percent of the field.
A top-four world cup finish is needed for nomination to the team in the women's pair and lightweight women's double.
For those racing in speed order events this week—men's andd women's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls and lightweight men's pair—the regatta is the first chancce of the season to test their speed against competitors from across the country.
Advancing to the Saturday finals in the first event, the women's pair, was two-time Olympic champion Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) and Felice Mueller (Cleveland, Ohio), who finished in 7:04.61. All six crews that advanced in the event were entries from the USRowing Training Center - Princeton.
Advancing behind them in 7:06.51 was Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.) and London Olympic bronze medalist Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.). Simmonds and Kalmoe won the event last year and went on to take silver at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Qualifying in third was the crew of Heidi Robbins (Hanover, N.H.) and Kristine O'Brien (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), who finished in 7:09.10.
"I'm glad the racing got moved up,"쳌 said Simmonds. "It was really good racing from the entire team. We were happy with our piece, and it's going to be a great final. It's just exciting to be racing again. Our teammates might be the toughest competition that we face some times."쳌
In the second women's pair semifinal, the first crew to advance was Lauren Schmetterling (Moorestown, N.J.) and Emily Regan (Buffalo, N.Y.), who finished in 7:08.02. Also advancing was Liv Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.) and Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wis.), who crossed in 7:09.29 and London gold medalist Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y) and Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), who finished in 7:09.67.
Advancing first from the men's pair semifinal was USTC - Princeton's Matthew Miller (Fairfax, Va.) and Alex Karwoski (Hollis, N.H.). Miller and Karwoski had the fastest time from Wednesday's time trial and crossed in 6:36.62, only a hair ahead of Vesper Boat Club's 2014 U.S. single sculler Yohann Rigogne (Besançon, France) and London Olympian Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), who finished in 6:36.69. Finishing third in 6:42.31 was USTC - Princeton's Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Robert Munn (Redmond, Wash.).
"We didn't handle the conditions very well, but we advanced,"쳌 said Miller. "Our base speed in the first 500, where it was calmer, was reassuring. We were happy with the first 500, but kind of disappointed with the last 1,500. But a win's a win."쳌
Advancing from the second semifinal with a winning time of 6:39.90 was USTC - Princeton's Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.). They were followed in second and third by two more training center crews. Crossing in 6:41.48 was Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.) and Sam Dommer (Folsom, Calif.). Finishing third in 6:42.37 was Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.) and
Dariush Aghai (Skokie, Ill.).
The women's double sculls followed the men's pair. Advancing along with O'Leary and Tomek of USTC - Oklahoma City,, who finished with a time of 7:08.51, was the Vesper entry of Nicole Ritchie (Dummerston, Vt.) and Mary Jones (Huntsville, Ala.). Ritchie and Jones finished second in 7:10.74. Finishing third and advancing with a time of 7:13.80 was the composite crew from Southern California Scullers Club and Riverside Boat Club of Hayley Daniell (Hopkinton, N.H.) and Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.).
In the second semifinal, USTC - Princeton's Molly Hamrick (Tampa, Fla.) and Keziah Beall (Bainbridge, Wash.) won with a time of 7:11.94. Finishing second in 7:17.44 was USTC - Princeton's Amanda Elmore (West Lafayette, Ind.) and Samantha Warren (Davis, Calif.). Advancing in the final spot in 7:19.72 was the Vesper entry of Beijing Olympian Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Jamie Chapman (Traverse City, Mich.).
Racing is scheduled to resume Friday at 7 a.m. with the men's double sculls semifinal. Twelve athletes from the lightweight men's single sculls will advance to the semifinals based on Wednesday's time trial results.
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