BEIJING - Four U.S. crews including the women's eight and women's single sculls crossed the finish line in first place on Monday to highlight the third day of racing at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
The U.S. women's eight of coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Anna Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.), Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) won its heat by 2.15 seconds to advance to Sunday's final. The crew took the lead during the first 500 meters and continued to build on its advantage through the 1,500-meter mark. The U.S. crossed the finish line with a time of 6:06.53, with Great Britain finishing in second place. Romania won the other final in a 6:05.77 to grab the other automatic qualifying spot in the final.
"It was really good; we got our goal out of the way," Whipple said. "We wanted to go straight to the final. Yesterday, we had a great race rehearsal due to the weather, and I think that really helped us visualize. We got to the line very calm. We just wanted to trust each other and just think about us. We just thought about maximizing our boat speed and driving it the whole way."
In the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) won the first of four quarterfinals to advance to Wednesday's semifinals. Guerette led from start to finish, crossing the line 2.99 seconds ahead of Poland's Julia Michalska. Guerette clocked a 7:28.91, while Michalska finished with a time of 7:31.90. Italy's Gabriella Bascelli finished third to also qualify for the semifinals.
"It wasn't an easy race, but I felt like at the 1,000 it had the potential to be under control," Guerette said. "But, it's the Olympics and nobody mellows out at the 1,000 even if they are up on the pack. It was definitely a push all the way to the finish as everybody wants that top seed. I think we all had that in mind as we were coming into the second 1,000 meters. There was no letting up, so I think it was a good, solid race."
After finishing third in its heat, the women's double sculls tandem of Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) came back to win the second repechage, or second-chance race, to advance to Saturday's final. The duo led at each of the 500-meter splits, defeating the Czech Republic by 1.91 seconds. Tomek and Kalmoe clocked a 6:58.84.
"First of all, our goal was to qualify, and our second goal was to win," Tomek said. "We just went out there and wanted to execute a full 2,000 meters this time instead of 1,500 and hang on for dear life (like the heat). It was good. We improved from our heat. We've been working on some technical things, and we have a couple more days to improve on some more things. Hopefully, it gets even better."
Twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Greenwich, Conn.) won the men's pair repechage in a 6:36.87 to advance to Wednesday's semifinals. The duo passed both Denmark and Croatia in the final 500 meters to win the race by 1.43 seconds. Croatia and Denmark also advanced, while Great Britain and Poland were eliminated.
"Sometimes you go up to the line, and you never know how it's going to play out," Cameron Winklevoss said. "But once the race got underway, we locked into a good rhythm, and the more strokes that we made, the more confident we got."
In the men's single sculls, Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) also qualified for the semifinals by placing third in his quarterfinal. Jurkowski sat in fourth position going into the final quarter of the race but passed The Netherlands' Sjoerd Hamburger in the final 500 meters to advance. New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale won the race in a 6:50.18, with Sweden's Lassi Karonen finishing second in a 6:50.40. Jurkowski clocked a 6:53.26.
The men's eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Micah Boyd (St. Paul, Minn.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) finished second in its heat and will now have to race in the repechage on Tuesday. The crew sat in first place at the 500-meter mark before Great Britain took command in the middle 1,000 meters. The British crew finished with a time of 5:25.89, with the Americans finishing 3.71 seconds behind in a 5:29.60. Canada controlled the other heat, clocking a 5:27.69 to win by more than seven seconds.
"Great Britain sort of controlled the middle 1,000 meters, and obviously, we have to go back and try to find a way to contain them there," Allen said. "We're going to go into the rep tomorrow and just try to row a fast race and hopefully get ourselves into the final. Hats off to them, they controlled the race and beat us out there."
In the men's double sculls, Elliot Hovey (Manchester-By-The-Sea, Mass.) and Wes Piermarini (West Brookfield, Mass.) finished fourth in their repechage and will now race in Final C, which determines places 13-14. The duo sat in third position through the 1,500-meter mark but was unable to hold onto the last spot in the semifinals. Russia won the race in a 6:23.52, while the U.S. finished in a 6:26.05.