Early this morning, on the calm waters of the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland, United States single scullers held their own against a field of extremely competitive international athletes. Of the 16 athletes representing the U.S. at the 2017 World Rowing Cup III, 14 are currently scullers and all have internationally-competitive sculling experience.
The U.S. progressed an athlete into the semifinals of each single sculls event entered. Women's single sculler Felice Mueller (Cleveland, Ohio; University of Michigan '12), lightweight women's sculler Mary Jones (Huntsville, Ala.; University of Tennessee, Knoxville '08) and lightweight men's sculler Matthew O'Leary (Westwood, Mass.; Harvard University '13) each advanced to the semifinals this morning after top-three finishes in their respective quarterfinals.
In the lightweight women's single, Cambridge Boat Club's Jones had the fastest start of heat two, and settled into a third-place finish in a time of 7:49.82, moving her to the quarterfinal.
Later in the morning, while lined up against Portugal, Italy, France, Poland and Paraguay in the quarterfinal, Jones held strong throughout her race to earn a second-place finish and a spot in tomorrow's semifinals, crossing the line in 8:23.28.
Also continuing onto the semifinal of the lightweight single is Potomac Boat Club's Emily Schmieg (Philadelphia, Pa.; University of Pittsburgh '10) who earned a third place finish in her quarterfinal with a time of 8:19.86.
The two scullers will race together in semifinal 2 against Poland, Switzerland, Sweden and Mexico tomorrow at 3:40 a.m. EST. Top three athletes will progress to the A final.
In the lightweight men's single, Oxford University Boat Club rower and former U.S. National Team athlete, O'Leary raced to a second-place finish in his heat, crossing the line in 7:15.20 behind New Zealand and advanced to the quarterfinal.
Leading the race in the first 500 meters of the quarterfinal, O'Leary settled into third place, securing the final spot in Saturday's semifinals with a time of 7:30.18. O'Leary will be challenging Switzerland, Great Britain, Slovenia, New Zealand and Poland in the semifinals. The top three finishers will race in the A Final.
"The racing today went well," said O'Leary. "I've been rowing the eight all year so it has been great to get back into the single and show a little bit of form. I didn't have to put in a full sprint in either race today so really getting after it in the second thousand should make tomorrow a little more interesting."
The closest finish for a U.S. athlete of the day was for 2016 Olympian Mueller, who sprinted to the finish line against 2016 Olympic Irish single sculler, Sanita Puspure in the repechage of the women's single sculls. Though Mueller led the first 1750 meters, Puspure overtook her in a final sprint. Muller finished in second place only 0.89 seconds behind, in a time of 7:53.39, earning her a spot in Saturday's semifinals. Mueller will race at 8:40 a.m. EST against New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada and Ukraine. Top three finishers will advance to the A final.
Progressing to A Finals
Representing the USRowing Training Center, 2016 Olympians in the quadruple sculls Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.; University of Washington '06) and Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.; Cornell University '12) are continuing to dominate international waters in the pair. Returning after a silver-medal finish in World Cup II, the two athletes had a strong heat today.
At the 1,000 meter mark, New Zealand challenged the pair, pulling ahead for the remainder of the race. The U.S. crew crossed the line 2.49 seconds behind the leading New Zealand team with a time of 7:08.17, over 20 seconds above the third-place German crew.
Kalmoe and Eisser will hit the course again for the final on Sunday, July 9 at 4:18 a.m. EST in an effort to return to the podium on the World Cup stage.
Progressing to Semifinals
In the first women's event of the morning, 2016 Olympians in the double, Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.; University of Virginia '08) and Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.; University of Michigan '06) returned to their Rio lineup for their first race together in 2017. Representing Vesper Boat Club and the New York Athletic Club, O'Leary and Tomek pushed hard against first-place finisher, France, for the duration of the heat, finishing one second behind them in a time of 6:49.94.
"This is our first regatta together and my first 2k race since Rio," said Tomek. "We are really just looking to have fun, go fast and lay a solid foundation for the rest of the year."
Their second place finish earned the double a spot in Saturday's semifinals, where they will race at 7:51 a.m. EST against the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Norway. Top three finishers will advance to the A final.
Progressing to C Finals
Craftsbury lightweight single sculler Hugh McAdam (Hollis, N.H.; Washington College '08) was back on the water this morning, following an eleventh place finish at the 2017 World Rowing Cup II. McAdam came out strong in his heat, racing to a second-place finish in a time of 7:13.80, moving him onto the quarterfinals
Later on, in the quarterfinal, McAdam raced bowball-to-bowball with lightweight Japanese sculler Hideki Omoto. In the final 500 meters, McAdam was overtaken and crossed the line fifth in a time of 7:34.22, earning a spot in Saturday's C Final. He will race at 4:55 a.m. EST against Serbia, Japan, Brazil, Austria 2 and Sweden.
Racing at their first World Rowing Cup regatta, the Schuylkill Navy double of Luke Wilhelm (Miranda, Calif.; University of California, Santa Barbara '13) and Erik Frid (Madbury, N.H.; Ithaca College '14) raced to a fifth place finish in their morning heat, with a time of 6:28.47, relegating them to the repechage.
In the repechage, Wilhelm and Frid fought hard for a spot in the semifinals but ultimately failed to hold off the second-place Lithuanian crew, finishing third in a time of 6:48.04. The men will race in the C Finals on Saturday at 5:15 a.m. EST against the Netherlands, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany 2.
Racing in the last U.S. C final on Saturday will be 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the women's eight, Lauren Schmetterling (Moorestown, N.J.; Colgate University '10). She is representing the USTC in the women's single sculls. Schmetterling's time of 7:45.38 in her heat moved her to the quarterfinal where she faced Ireland, Belarus, Latvia, Austria and current teammate, Mueller.
She crossed the line fifth in a time of 8:14.88 and will race in tomorrow's C final at 5:25 a.m. EST against Spain, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia and Finland.
Progressing to Repechages
The U.S. will race in one final repechage tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
The Schuylkill Navy men's quadruple sculls crew includes Justin Keen (Hatfield, Pa.; Penn State '12), Lenny Futterman (New York, N.Y.; Boston University '14), Jonathan Kirkegaard (Philadelphia, Pa.; Purdue University '08), and Greg Ansolabehere (Bakersfield, Calif.; California State University, Sacramento '09).
The four men raced earlier this summer in the quad to a fourth-place finish at the 2017 Holland Beker Regatta. Today, the crew from Philadelphia placed sixth, crossing the line in 6:00.49 against Lithuania, France, Norway, Germany and Italy. The crew was relegated to the repechage and will need a top-two finish to progress to the A final.