Three U.S. boats advanced to the semifinals on Friday to highlight the first day of competition at the second stop of the 2007 Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), Mike Perry (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.) and Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) finished third in its heat to advance directly to tomorrow's semifinals. With the top three boats advancing, the crew sat in fourth place as it crossed the 1,000-meter mark. However, the U.S. boat passed Egypt during the third quarter of the race. The crew finished with a time of 5:55.37, nearly six seconds ahead of Egypt. The Czech Republic won the heat in a 5:48.49, followed by France in a 5:51.05.
Wendy Campanella (Needham, Mass.) and Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) advanced to the semifinals of the lightweight women's double sculls by winning their repechage, or second-chance race, on Friday afternoon. The duo clocked a 7:13.81 to finish 1.56 seconds ahead of Poland in the first of two repechages. In the morning heat, Campanella and Heere finished fourth in a 7:13.74.
In the men's double sculls, Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) advanced to Saturday's semifinals by finishing second in the afternoon repechages. After finishing third in the morning heat, Hughes and Stitt rallied to pass China in the final 500 meters to earn a spot in the semifinals. The U.S. crew stroked a 6:24.71 to finish 1.90 seconds ahead of China and less than one second behind the Czech Republic. In the heat, Hughes and Stitt crossed the finish line in third with a time of 6:26.62.
In the lightweight men's double sculls, Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) will race in the C final for places 13-18 after finishing third in their afternoon repechage. In the morning heat, Liverman and Montgomery finished second in a 6:25.94, finishing 2.02 seconds behind Austria. In the afternoon race, the duo sat in second position with 500 meters to go but was unable to hold off Poland down the stretch, finishing third in a 6:34.17. The Czech Republic won the repechage in a 6:32.42, with Poland finishing second in a 6:33.50.
After finishing sixth in his quarterfinal on Friday afternoon, Jonathan Burns (Vancouver, Wash.) will race in the D final for places 19-22. In the morning heats, Burns finished third with a time of 7:07.90 to move on to the quarterfinals. In his afternoon race, however, Burns was unable to finish in the top three in order to advance to the sems. Burns finished with a time of 7:22.13.
More than 750 rowers from 43 nations are competing on the Bosbaan regatta course. Great Britain and China lead the way in numbers of entries as both countries have 23 boats scheduled to race. Racing continues with repechages and semifinals on Saturday, with the finals being held on Sunday. The event will be streamed live in the United States on the World Championship Sports Network Web site at www.wcsn.com. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed at www.worldrowing.com.
The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. The first stage took place June 1-3 in Austria. The remaining stage will be held July 13-15 in Lucerne, Switzerland.