CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The second set of 2003 World Championships Trials for non-Olympic-class boats began Wednesday on Cooper River with heats in three events - the lightweight men's single sculls, lightweight women's single sculls, and lightweight women's pair. Winners of the trials earn the right to represent the United States at the 2003 FISA World Championships August 24-31 in Milan, Italy.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, Andrew Liverman recorded the fastest time of the morning heats. Racing in the first of three heats, Liverman clocked a 7:20.32 to defeat Undine Barge Club's Jon D'Alba by nearly 13 seconds. Potomac Boat Club's Jeff Anchukaitis finished third. In the second heat, Eric Wilhelm finished in a 7:27.85, more than 27 seconds ahead of Riverside Boat Club's Sean Wolf. CSUS Aquatic Center's Sam Sweitzer finished third. In the third heat, Union Boat Club's Aleks Zosuls stroked a 7:22.45 to finish 2.37 seconds ahead of Ann Arbor Rowing Club's Brian Tryon. Augusta Rowing Club's Sixto Portilla finished third, followed by Deep Eddy Rowing Club's Liam O'Brien. The top two finishers in each of the three heats advanced directly to tomorrow's semifinals. The remaining boats headed to Wednesday afternoon's repechage, or second-chance race, where Anchukaitis and Portilla advanced to the semifinals.
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Riverside Boat Club's Sarah Howlett recorded the fastest time of the heats, clocking a 7:59.90 to finish 5.10 seconds ahead of Union Boat Club's Catharine Infantino. Dayton's Trish Miles finished third, followed by Dallas Rowing Club's Amy Molenaar. In the other heat, Pocock Rowing Center's Julia Nichols stroked an 8:00.34 to finish 11.48 seconds ahead of Riverside's Heather Moon. Occoquan Boat Club's Melissa Rice finished third, followed by Erin Burton. The winner of each heat advanced to Friday's first final, while the remaining scullers will race in the repechages Thursday morning.
Undine Barge Club's Meghan Sarbanis and Renee Hykel won the second heat of the lightweight women's pair, recording the fastest time of the morning. Sarbanis and Hykel clocked a 7:31.41 to finish more than 16 seconds ahead of the Potomac Boat Club Composite crew of Melanie Borger and Alessandra Phillips. In the first heat, Riverside Boat Club's Ashley Lanfer and Tina Vandersteel won with a time of 7:39.07. The crew finished 5.26 seconds ahead of the Cambridge/Riverside pair of Amy Scott and Abigail Cromwell. Nereid Boat Club's Katherine Orendorf and Amanda Spires finished third. Following the heat, Orendorf and Spires scratched themselves from the repechage, so the remaining four crews advanced directly to the first final.
In addition to the three events that started today, seven additional trials events will be contested this week. The men's pair with coxswain, lightweight men's pair, lightweight men's quadruple sculls, lightweight women's quadruple sculls, women's four, men's four with coxswain, and lightweight men's eight are all finals-only events that begin Friday with the first final in the best two-out-of-three finals format. Second finals will be held Saturday, with third finals being held Sunday, if necessary. Trials' racing begins at 8 a.m. each day.
USRowing is the non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of rowing in the U.S. USRowing's Official Patron is Concept2, its Official Electronics Outfitter is Nielsen Kellerman, its Official Suppliers are NIKE, Inc., Filippi Boat Manufacturer/Elite Rowing, Inc. and BOC Advertising, and its Preferred Printer is Sport Graphics Printing.
Lightweight Men's Single Sculls Heat 01 1: New York Athletic Club/Potomac Boat Club-LIVERMAN, 07:20:32; 2: Undine Barge Club-DALBA, 07:33:11; 3: Potomac Boat Club-ANCHUKAITIS, 07:49:47. Heat 02 1: Unaffiliated-WILHELM, 07:27:85; 2: Riverside Boat Club-WOLF, 07:55:25; 3: CSUS/CSUS Aquatic Center/Lake Natoma/Capital Crew-SWEITZER, 08:03:02. Heat 03 1: Union Boat Club-ZOSULS, 07:22:45; 2: Ann Arbor Rowing Club-TRYON, 07:24:82; 3: Augusta Rowing Club, Inc.-PORTILLA, 07:41:77; 4: Deep Eddy Rowing Club-OBRIEN, 07:54:86. Repechage 01 1: Potomac Boat Club-ANCHUKAITIS, 07:45:32; 2: Augusta Rowing Club, Inc.-PORTILLA, 08:00:81; 3: Deep Eddy Rowing Club-OBRIEN, 08:07:89.
Lightweight Women's Single Sculls Heat 01 1: Pocock Rowing Center-NICHOLS, 08:00:34; 2: Riverside Boat Club-MOON, 08:11:82; 3: Occoquan Boat Club-RICE, 08:13:30; 4: Unaffiliated-BURTON, 08:29:86. Heat 02 1: Riverside Boat Club-HOWLETT, 07:59:90; 2: Union Boat Club-INFANTINO, 08:05:00; 3: University of Dayton Crew-MILES, 08:16:40; 4: Dallas Rowing Club-MOLENAAR, 08:26:90.
Lightweight Women's Pair Heat 01 1: Riverside Boat Club, 07:39:07; 2: Cambridge BC/Riverside BC, 07:44:33; 3: Nereid Boat Club, 08:09:86. Heat 02 1: Undine Barge Club, 07:31:41; 2: Potomac Boat Club-COMP, 07:47:62.