Ellen Tomek and Meghan O’Leary continued their success in Europe this summer advancing directly into the Saturday semifinal at the 2014 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, Friday morning.
Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and O’Leary (Baton Rouge, La.) finished second in their heat in 7:03.87. Crossing the first 500-meter mark in second, Tomek and O’Leary took the lead in the third quarter but New Zealand came back from third and overtook them in the final 500 meters to win in 7:02.55. Belarus led through the first half, but finished third in 7:07.32.
They are now scheduled to race Saturday against Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus 1 and Denmark at 9:15 am Eastern Standard Time.
"It was a good first race for us,” said O’Leary. “We did what we needed to do to go through straight to the semifinal. Tomorrow will be another day of tough racing with so many fast crews here. It's great to have the opportunity to be here and race another world cup. With such competitive racing, it's excellent experience and preparation for the world championships coming up later in the summer."
The U.S. women’s double was one of three crews racing in Lucerne. Also reaching the semifinal directly was the men’s quadruple sculls crew of Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.J.), John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio), Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.) and Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio).
The U.S. quad finished second in their opening heat in 5:53.28 and advanced into the Saturday semifinal. After taking the lead in the first half, the U.S. was overtaken in the third quarter by Spain, which won in 5:52.35. Poland was third in 5:54.24.
They face Italy, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, and Canada in the semifinal scheduled for 8:40 am Eastern Standard Time.
Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) finished third in his morning heat and advanced to the afternoon quarterfinal where he finished fifth. He will now race Saturday in the D final at 4:12 am Eastern Standard Time.
Visit www.worldrowing.com for complete event details.
The World Cup III finals will be live-streamed on Sunday, July 13 at https://www.youtube.com/user/WorldRowingFISA.
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07/11/2014 8:48:23 PM