Racing at the 2007 World Championships Trials continued on Wednesday at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., with the first set of finals in four events, semifinals in three events and repechages, or second-chance races, in two events.
Finals, which are held in a best two-out-of-three format, kicked off in the lightweight men's pair, lightweight women's quadruple sculls, men's pair with coxswain and men's four with coxswain.
Caspersen Training Center's Simon Carcagno and Matt Smith captured the first final of the lightweight men's pair with a time of 6:40.52. In what was a two boat race, Undine Barge Club's Craig Dodson and Erik Reitinger came in second with a 6:54.99. Both crews progressed to Thursday's second final.
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls first final, the Vesper Boat Club/New York Athletic Club composite boat of Hannah Moore, Carey Brezler, Sarah Bates and Margaret Duggan finished first with a time of 6:38.69. The Pocock Rowing Center/Potomac Boat Club composite crew finished second in a 6:43.12, while the Penn AC/New York Athletic Club composite crew came in third with a time of 6:46.19. All three crews will race in the second final tomorrow.
In a four-boat race, Penn AC's Dave Florio, Steve Kasprzyk and Patrick Godfrey won the first final of the men's pair with coxswain with a time of 7:06.85. California Rowing Club finished second in a 7:12.46, edging out third-place Caspersen Training Center by just 0.6 seconds. Penn AC's Brian McDonald, Toby Ayer and Chris DeFelice finished fourth. The top three boats moved on to the second final.
In the first final of the men's four with coxswain, Caspersen Training Center clocked a 6:14.90 to easily win the race. The crew of Ned DelGuercio, Chris Liwski, Sam Burns, Dan Beery and Matt Deakin finished almost five seconds ahead of Vesper Boat Club with a time of 6:19.66. Bantam Boat Club finished third in a 6:30.00. All three crews will race in the second final.
Semifinals were held in the men's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls and lightweight women's single sculls.
Princeton Training Center's Warren Anderson recorded the fastest time of the men's single sculls semifinals, winning the second race in a 7:04.42. Vesper Boat Club's Jonathan Burns came in second with a time of 7:06.36 to also advance to the first final. In the other semifinal, Ken Jurkowski captured first in a 7:06.37, with Caspersen Training Center's Gabe Winkler finishing 1.52 seconds later. The top two boats from each semifinal progressed to Thursday's first final.
In the first semifinal of the lightweight men's single sculls, Penn AC's Ivan Baldytchev captured first in a 7:07.21, followed by Shane Madden of Caspersen Training Center in second with a time of 7:08.58. Semifinal two was taken by Riverside Boat Club's Rob Zechmann in a 7:09.73. Jonathan Winter of New Haven Rowing Club finished second, just 0.61 seconds behind. The top two boats from each semifinal advanced to the first final.
With a time of 7:42.99, Jen Goldsack recorded the fastest time of the morning in winning the first semifinal of the lightweight women's single sculls. Caspersen Training Center's Renee Hykel came in second with a time of 7:48.31. In the second semifinal, Hampton Roads Rowing Club's Melissa Rice finished first in a 7:48.82. Julie Nichols of Caspersen Training Center took second with a time of 7:51.30. The four women will race in the first final on Thursday.
Repecahges were held in the women's single sculls and men's pair.
In the women's single sculls, Potomac Boat Club's Mae Joyce Gay won the repechage in a 7:54.22. Vesper Boat Club's Ann Holmes finished 2.91 seconds behind and also advanced. The two scullers join heat winners Michelle Guerette and Nicole Sylvester in the first final.
In the men's pair, Caspersen Training Center's Jason Read and Kyle Larson took first in their repachage with a time of 6:41.32. Sebastian Bea and Scott Gault finished second in a 6:45.04, earning the other spot in the final. The two crews will race heat winners Micah Boyd and Ted Farwell of Penn AC and the Caspersen Training Center/New York Athletic Club duo of David Banks and Paul Teti in the first final.
The finals continue on Thursday and Friday. Racing begins each day at 7 a.m. For a complete schedule and race results, please visit www.powerhousetiming.com. In total, the trials will select 12 boats that will represent the United States at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships August 26-September 2 in Munich, Germany.