LUCERNE, Switzerland - The United States will have 12 crews racing at the third and final stop of the 2004 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup starting on Friday in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The women's eight of Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Lianne Nelson (Seattle, Wash.), Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Laurel Korholz (La Jolla, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Alison Cox (Turlock, Calif.), Megan Dirkmaat (San Jose, Calif.), Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.), and Kate Johnson (Portland, Ore.) remains intact, albeit with slight lineup shuffling, following its gold-medal performance at the world cup stop in Munich. In Germany, the crew finished 0.97 seconds ahead of China, with the host country finishing third. In Lucerne, the crew will race Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania. The six-boat field includes all but one of the crews (China) that will be racing at the Olympics in Athens.
While the Olympic selection process for the U.S. boats continues through July 7, the men's eight and men's four will test new lineup combinations in Lucerne as the two boats hit the international circuit for the first time this year. The men's eight of Pete Cipollone (Ardmore, Pa.), Jon Watling (Greenwich, Conn.), Joey Hansen (Bakersfield, Calif.), Chris Ahrens (Milwaukee, Wis.), Chris Liwski (Sarasota, Fla.), Wolf Moser (Moultonboro, N.H.), Mike Wherley (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.), and Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine) will race eight other crews in Lucerne. The field includes the defending world champions from Canada, who won last month's world cup race in Munich, as well as Germany, France, Great Britain, Egypt, Italy, the Netherlands, and a second U.S. entry from Harvard University.
Harvard's eight of coxswain Jesse Oberst, Kip McDaniel, Aaron Holzapfel, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, Jonathan Lehe, Malcolm Howard, Jordan Sagalowsky, and Jonathan Durham is getting a chance to test its speed against the top international crews. The crew capped off an undefeated collegiate season by winning the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships and its annual race with Yale University. The victory over Yale gave Harvard its second consecutive undefeated season, something it had not accomplished since 1974-75.
The U.S. men's four of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.), Dan Beery (, Ind.), and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) will take on 13 other boats. The field is deep and includes the top three crews from last year's world championships in Canada, Great Britain and Germany, as well as Australia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Slovenia and the Czech Republic finished third and fourth, respectively, behind Canada and Germany last month in Munich.
The duo of Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.) and Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), who earned a berth in the Olympics by winning the Olympic Qualification Regatta on Tuesday, will take on 16 other crews in the lightweight men's double sculls. Last year, Tucker and Ruckman won one world cup race and finished third in another, taking home a third-place overall finish from the world cup series. This weekend, Italy, Poland and Ireland, the three medalists from last year's world championships, return with their lineups intact. Germany, France, Denmark and Hungary also have all shown speed this spring and could reach the medal stand.
Like Tucker and Ruckman, the men's quadruple sculls of Kent Smack (Clinton, N.J.), Sloan DuRoss (Old Orchard Beach, Maine), Brett Wilkinson (Hyde Park, N.Y.), and Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.) earned its berth into the Olympics by finishing in the top two at the qualification regatta. The quartet will take on 12 crews in Lucerne. At last year's world championships, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland took the top three spots. The U.S. will have to contend with all three crews in Lucerne, along with medal hopefuls from Belarus, Estonia, Russia, the Ukraine, and Australia.
The women's quadruple sculls of Danika Holbrook (Durham, N.H.), Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio), Hilary Gehman (Wolfeboro, N.H.), and Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) raced in both the quad and the double sculls at the world cup stop in Munich, finishing fifth in the bigger boat. In Lucerne, the quartet will take on eight other crews including Australia, Belarus, China, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Russia and the Ukraine. Germany won the world cup race in Munich, while Australia is the defending world champions.
After finishing eighth at the world cup stop in Munich, the lightweight men's four has made one roster change and tweaked the lineup. In Lucerne, the crew of Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.), Pat Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.), and Steve Warner (Livonia, Mich.) will take on 14 other boats including top crews from Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Chile, the Netherlands, and Germany. Italy won the race in Munich, with Ireland following closely behind. Denmark, the two-time defending world champions, finished sixth in Munich but has moved Stephan Molvig back into the boat in hopes of returning to the top spot on the medal stand.
In the men's single sculls, Conal Groom (Northford, Conn.), a 2000 Olympian in the lightweight men's double sculls, will take on 21 competitors. Groom failed to qualify for the Games at the Olympic Qualification Regatta earlier this week and will use Lucerne as his chance to test his speed against the world's best single scullers. The field is a who's who of the rowing world and includes Estonia's Juri Jaanson, who won gold at the world cup stop in Poznan, Poland; the Czech Republic's Vaclav Chalupa, who won the gold in Munich; Norway's Olaf Tufte, last year's world champion; and Germany's Marcel Hacker, the world champion in the event in 2002.
In the women's double sculls, Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Carol Skricki (Norwood, Mass.) will take on 10 other boats. Like Groom, the double did not qualify for the Games at the qualifier earlier this week, so it will use Lucerne as its chance to race the world's top doubles. Two-time defending world champions, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, will be racing, as will Germany, Great Britain, and Russia.
Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) won the bronze medal in the lightweight men's pair at last year's world championships. The duo will take on 15 other crews in Lucerne.
Lightweight men's single sculler Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.), who finished 11th at last year's world championships in the event, will race against 17 other scullers.