BEIJING - The U.S. men's quadruple sculls advanced to the semifinals on Sunday at the 2008 Olympic Games, while races in the men's and women's eights were postponed due to inclement weather.
Heats in the eights will now be held on Monday beginning at 2:50 p.m. local time (2:50 a.m. EDT). With multiple rowers from the women's eight also racing in the pair, the women's pair repechage has been moved to Tuesday and the women's eight repechage will now be held Wednesday. The men's eight repechages will still be held on Tuesday.
"It's something that's going to happen in an outdoor sport," said Bryan Volpenhein, stroke of the men's eight. "We're used to this kind of stuff. We have to change practice times at Princeton sometimes due to weather, so we're used to it. We'll be alright. It's just something that happens."
The crew of Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) finished third in the last heat of the men's quadruple sculls. The quartet sat in third position the entire way down the course, clocking a 5:45.77 to advance to Thursday's semifinals. Ukraine won the race in a 5:40.11, with Germany finishing second in a 5:43.48.
In the lightweight women's double sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, United Kingdom) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) missed an automatic qualifying spot in the semifinals by 0.09 seconds and will now race in the repechages, or second-chance races, on Tuesday. The duo sat in third position behind The Netherlands and Australia for most of the race but went into the final few strokes even with Australia's Marguerite Houston and Amber Halliday. However, the defending world champions were able to cross the line just in front of the American crew to secure second place and a spot in the semifinals. The Netherlands' Marit van Eupen and Kirsten van der Kolk won the race in a 6:50.90, with Australia clocking a 6:53.32. Goldsack and Hykel finished third with a time of 6:53.32.
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) also finished third in its heat and will now race in Tuesday's repechages. The crew sat in fourth position through the 1,500-meter mark before passing Australia in the final quarter of the race. Great Britain won the heat in a 6:13.70 to earn a spot in the final. Germany finished second in a 6:15.26, followed by the U.S. in a 6:19.89.
The lightweight men's four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) finished fourth in its heat and will now race in the repechage on Tuesday. The quartet sat in fourth position off of the line and was never able to chase down Italy for third place and an automatic spot in the semifinals. Denmark won the race in a 5:50.12, followed by Canada and Italy. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:56.54.