The U.S. men's four with coxswain won its semifinal to advance to the final, highlighting the fourth day of competition at the 2004 FISA Senior and Junior World Championships in Banyoles, Spain.
The men's four with coxswain of Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Paul Daniels (Burlington, Wis.) and Andrew Brennan (Valley Forge, Pa.) led its semifinal from start to finish, stroking a 6:12.81 to win by 2.05 seconds. Slovenia and Australia finished second and third, moving on to the final. In the second semifinal, Canada, Italy, and France finished in the top three spots and advanced to the final.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, first-time national team member Rich Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished sixth in his semifinal and will now race in a B final on Sunday for places 7-12. Montgomery clocked a 7:26.48 to finish almost 20 seconds behind race winner France's Fabrice Moreau.
The lightweight men's pair of Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) also finished sixth in its semifinal and will now race in a B final on Sunday for places 7-12. The duo clocked a 6:54.23, finishing more than 10 seconds behind Denmark.
In the junior events, the men's eight of Noah Polsky (Larkspur, Calif.), Joe McMuillin (Woodbridge, Va.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Neil Stanga (Arlington, Va.), Jesse Johnson (Mercer Island, Wash.), Max Wyatt (San Francisco, Calif.), Brian Ebke (Corte Madera, Calif.), and Chris Hearne (Princeton, N.J.) finished third in its semifinal and advanced to Saturday's final. The crew clocked a 5:55.06 to finish behind Germany and Russia. Romania, the Czech Republic, and France advanced to the final from the other semi.
Junior men's single sculler Joseph Medioli (Teaneck, N.J.) finished fourth and now will race in the B final for places 7-12. Medioli clocked a 7:17.16 to finish almost 13 seconds behind Romania's Daniel Frateanu.
In the junior women's single sculls, Michelle King (Lyme, Conn.) finished fifth in her semifinal and now will race in a B final on Saturday for places 7-12. King clocked an 8:12.85 to finish more than 16 seconds behind Sally Kehoe from Australia, the winner of the race.
The junior men's double sculls tandem of Pat Ryan (Malvern, Pa.) and Justin Teti (West Chester, Pa.) finished third in its C/D semifinal and now will race in the C final for places 13-18. The duo clocked a 7:08.08 to finish behind Estonia and France.
The U.S. also had one adaptive crews racing on Friday. The leg/trunk/arms four with coxswain of Lisa Boron, Aerial Gilbert, Jennifer Klapper, Jesse Karmazin, and Dwayne Adams won the B final to place seventh overall.