LAKE AIGUEBELETTE, France - Vicky Opitz and Meghan Musnicki were just coming into the final strokes of their pair race, moving through Canada and going for the win at the 2014 World Cup II on Lake Aiguebelette, France.
Sitting in the bow seat, Opitz had the job of telling Musnicki what was going on. What she said was not only had they moved past Canada, but they were also pulling even with the two other U.S. crews in the women's pair semifinal.
"So it kind of crossed my mind that this could be a four boat USA final," said Musnicki.
And that is exactly what it is going to be.
With Opitz (Middleton, Wis.) and Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) finishing first in 7:02.33, Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), finishing second in 7:02.33 and Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Lauren Schmetterling (Moorestown, N.J.) taking third in 7:04.23 the U.S. placed three in the Sunday final from the first semifinal.
That number jumped to four when Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), rowing in the next semifinal, finished second behind Great Britain in 6:59.97. Britain's Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won in 6:57.86 and China finished third in 7:01.47.
"I don't think it was clear it was going to be three (U.S. boats) until we crossed the finish line. This is pretty exciting," Musnicki said.
"It shows the strength of the U.S. squad," Opitz added. "We're all hungry for small boats and it's certainly paying off here."
The women's pairs semifinal was certainly a big moment on a day filled with them for the U.S. squad.
Of the 15 crews that raced, 11 reached the finals. In addition to the four women's pairs, the men's eight, the men's four, the lightweight men's four, a women's quad, the women's double, the lightweight men's double and the women's single all advanced. The women's eight will also row in the Sunday final, bringing the total number of crews racing for medals to 12.
Even more exciting for three of the crews - the women's double team of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.), the lightweight men's double team of Josh Konieczny (Millbury, Ohio) Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.), and women's single sculler Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass.) - all earned berths to the team that will represent the U.S. at 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 24-31.
The National Selection Regatta winners needed only a top six finish here to be named to the team. All three boat classes are Olympic boat classes that are not directly funded by USRowing. However, a top four finish in the final will move them to the funded list.
"I've made worlds," said Stone, a London Olympian in the event. "In order to get funded, I need a top four finish and for the fun of it, I'm going for the medals." Stone started in fourth but rowed her way into third through the middle of the race and then sprinted into second to finish in 7:33.02. New Zealand's Emma Twigg won the race in 7:27.30 and Ireland's Sanita Puspure was third in 7:33.79.
They will race Chantal Achterberg of The Netherlands, Austria's Magdalena Lobnig and Jingli Daun of China.
"A top six finish is awesome," Stone said. "No trials. I'm definitely happy about that. That was goal number one. Tomorrow is more for fun."
Tomek and O'Leary rowed in second for most of the race and finished in 6:49.73. Poland won in 6:48.60 and Great Britain was third in 6:49.98. They will be joined in the final by Australia, Belarus and The Netherlands.
In their semifinal, Konieczny and Meyer fought their way into third place after starting out of a qualifying spot and finished in 6:18.15. France won in 6:13.05 and Norway was second in 6:16.15. They will be joined by Germany, The Netherlands and Austria.
"This feels good," said Meyer. "There was a lot of hard work behind this and it's good to come here and put the U.S. in the final for the lightweight double. I'm really excited. We didn't want to give them too much at the start and we know we have a strong second thousand. We had to stay as technical as possible and I think we won that by being relaxed."
Leading off the Saturday racing, the men's four crew of Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) finished second in their heat to advance. After starting the race in second and then moving into first in the middle, the U.S. four was passed in the final 500 meters to finish second in 6:05.07. But second was all they needed to be the first U.S. boat through to the final.
Australia won in 6:01.36. In the second heat Great Britain 1 won in 5:55.24 and Canada was second in 5:59.30. Rep winners Germany and Great Britain 2 will join those crews.
Next to advance was the U.S. quad crew of Grace Latz (Jackson, Mich.), Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.), Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) and Felice Mueller (Cleveland, Ohio), who were racing as USA 1. They won in a time of 6:21.81, followed in second by Poland in 6:26.80 and in third by Great Britain in 6:27.79.
They will be joined by Germany, The Netherlands and New Zealand in the final.
Racing as USA 2, the crew of Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.), Heidi Robbins (Hanover, N.H.), Tessa Gobbo (Chesterfield, N.H.) and Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.) finished fifth in the semifinal and then fourth in the rep and will race the B final.
The lightweight men's four crew of Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.), William Daly (Vail, Colo.), Edward King (Ironton, Mo.) and Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) finished fourth in their semifinal and needed a top two finish in the repechage to advance.
They accomplished that and now race semifinal winners France 1 and Denmark and rep winners New Zealand, Poland, Great Britain and China.
In the men's eight, the crew of Zach Vlahos (Piedmont, Calif.), Thomas Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), Matthew Miller (Springfield, Va.), Rob Munn (Redmond, Wash.), Gennaro, Steven Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.), Ambrose Puttmann (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Thomas Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), won their heat in 5:29.08 to advance directly to the final.
The will face heat winner Belarus along with China, France, Great Britain and Poland who all advanced from the repechage.
"It was good," said Gennaro, who rowed in the eight to replace Ross James (Dekalb, Ill.) who was scratched due to injury.
"We executed in both boats like we wanted to," he said. "You can't win the final if you're not in the final and it was good to avoid the reps. We did what we had to do. I'm not concerned about doubling up. It's an unfortunate situation, but I know all the guys have my back."
The women's eight crew of coxswain Katelin Snyder (Winter Park, Fla.), Lind, Optiz, Musnicki, Luczak, Schmetterling, Polk, Simmonds and Kalmoe row in the final against Canada, China, Great Britain and Germany.
In the lightweight women's double, Devery Karz (Park City, Utah) and Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) qualified directly to the semifinal from the Friday heats, but missed a chance to row in the final, finishing fifth in their race. The NSR 2 winners still have the opportunity to earn a birth to the world team if they can finish in the top four of the last World Rowing Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland in July.
They will row in the B final Sunday.
Men's single sculler Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.), advanced to the semifinals from the Friday reps, but also did not advance to the final, finishing fifth in his race and will now row in the B final.
Rowing in the C final of the women's single sculls, Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) finished third.