row2k news Twenty-Six Crews to Compete for U.S. at 2006 World Championships
August 15, 2006
USRowing will have 26 crews competing at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships August 20-27 in Eton, England. The 84-person roster includes 53 past national team members and numerous world and Olympic medalists.
The men's eight won a gold medal at last year's world championships in Gifu, Japan, and returns five people from that boat. This year's crew includes coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.), Chris Liwski (Sarasota, Fla.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.), Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.), and Paul Daniels (Burlington, Wis.). The crew has yet to race internationally this year. In total, 16 crews will compete in England including Germany, who won two of the three world cup races this summer, and Australia, who won the other. Poland, Italy, Romania, and Belarus also reached the medal stand during the world cup circuit and are entered in the event.
The lightweight double sculls tandem of Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) won silver at last year's world championships and bronze at this year's final world cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland. The crew will take on 21 other boats in Eton. Canada won the race in Lucerne, followed by Finland in silver-medal position. China won the other two world cup races. Other medal contenders include world cup medalists Germany, Poland, and Ireland.
Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) took home the bronze medal in the single sculls at last year's world championships. In Eton, she will be looking to get back on the medal stand after two fifth-place finishes on the world cup circuit this summer. As always, Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten will be the one to beat in the 22-person field. The defending world champion won all three world cup races this year. The Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova, last year's silver medalist in the event, finished second behind Karsten at all three world cup stops. Other top contenders include Russia's Julia Levina, France's Sophie Balmary, and Sweden's Frida Svensson.
The women's eight won a silver medal at the world cup stop in Lucerne in July, but that crew included four substitutes from the top lineup as the coaching staff wanted to limit each rower to one event during the regatta. The crew racing in Eton has been retooled to the same lineup that won the Henley Royal Regatta in early July. It is made up of eight past senior national team members including coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), and Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.). Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) is the lone senior national team rookie, although she won a bronze medal in the double sculls at last year's under 23 world championships. Thirteen crews will race at the world championships. Romania, who won two world cup races, will be the crew to beat. Germany won the other world cup race, while Australia, China, and Great Britain also will be contenders.
Four members of the women's eight will be racing in two events at the world championships. Mickelson and Cooke also will race in the women's pair. The duo won the event at the world cup stop in Lucerne and will face tough competition from Canada, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands, who all won medals on the world cup circuit this season. Francia and Sickler will race in the women's double sculls. At the world cup races, the duo finished seventh in Lucerne and eighth in Munich, Germany. New Zealand's Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, the defending world and Olympic champions, is the team to beat. Other top crews include Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Belarus, and the Czech Republic.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine), and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) won a bronze medal in Lucerne. The U.S., which last reached the final in the quad at the world championships in 2001, has only won one medal in the event's history - silver at the 1996 Olympics. A total of 15 crews will race in Eton. The Czech Republic won two world cup races this summer, while Poland, the defending world champions, won the other. Russia, Australia, France, and Germany also will be contenders.
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.), Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.), and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished fourth at the world cup stop in Lucerne and will be looking for a podium finish in Eton. Great Britain won all three world cup stops, while Germany and Russia reached the podium twice. China and Australia also could challenge for medals. Eight crews are entered in the event.
The lightweight men's double sculls tandem of Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.) and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.) will be racing at its first world championships. The duo finished 13th at the world cup race in Lucerne. Italy won two of the three world cups, while Denmark won the other. Other world cup medalists included Greece, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan. A regatta-high 30 crews are entered in the event.
Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), a 2004 Olympian in the men's four, will race for the first time internationally in the single sculls in Eton. New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale won the gold medal at last year's world championships and reached the medal stand twice this summer. Norway's Olaf Tufte, the defending Olympic champion, defeated Drysdale in Lucerne. Other top competition could come from the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden. Twenty-five men's single scullers are scheduled to race.
The men's pair includes veteran Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.), a member of the gold-medal winning men's eight in Athens, and newcomer Sam Burns (Seattle, Wash.). The duo will take on a tough, but unpredictable, field. Serbia and Montenegro, Australia, and New Zealand won the three world cup stops, while Canada, South Africa, Germany, and Great Britain all reached the podium this summer. New Zealand is the defending world champion. In total, 19 crews will race in Eton.
The men's double sculls tandem is made up of newcomer Francis Cuddy (Amherst, N.H.) and two-time national team member Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.). The U.S. is one of 26 entries in the event. Three different crews won gold on the world cup circuit. France reached the medal stand at all three world cup races, winning gold in Poznan, Poland. Slovenia won in Lucerne, while Germany won in Munich. Great Britain and Hungary also reached the podium this summer.
The men's four has been one of the priorities for Coach Mike Teti in 2006, and the crew of Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.), and Michael Blomquist (Greensboro, N.C.) has hopes of reaching the medal stand. The defending world champion and host British boat will be the team to beat after winning all three world cup stops. Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and New Zealand also reached the medal stand during the world cup circuit. Canada, last year's bronze medalists behind Great Britain and the Netherlands, should be strong as well. In total, 17 crews are entered
The lightweight men's four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.), and Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) includes three national team veterans and one newcomer in Farrell. The crew will take on 21 other boats in Eton. Ireland won two world cup events and finished second behind Germany in the other. Australia, France, and Egypt also reached the medal stand this summer.
At 41, Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.) returns to the team after taking a year off following the Olympics. She will be racing 20 other scullers in the lightweight single sculls in Eton. The 10-time national team member has won two world championship medals in the event.
The lightweight men's pair includes two national team veterans in Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.). Bolton won a silver medal in the lightweight eight at the 2002 World Championships. The duo will take on 14 other pairs in Eton.
The women's four of Rachel Jeffers (Los Gatos, Calif.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.), Portia Johnson (Seattle, Wash.), and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) includes only one rower with senior national team experience in Johnson. However, the three remaining crew members have won medals at either the junior or under 23 world championships including Lofgren, who won gold in the under 23 eight just last month. The U.S. is one of the seven entries in the event.
The men's pair with coxswain of Vincent Puma (Irvington, N.Y.), Pat Godfrey (Gorham, Maine), and Ted Farwell (Madison, Wis.) will be racing at its first world championships, as will the men's four with coxswain of Dane van den Akker (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.), Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Chris Callaghan (Tualatin, Ore.), and Brodie Buckland (Olympia, Wash.). Puma, who coxed at the world championships in 2004, is the lone member of either crew to have world championships' experience. Both events have only six entries and will be final-only races.
The lightweight women's quadruple sculls also has only six entries and is a final-only event. The U.S. quartet of Michelle Trannel (East Dubuque, Ill.), Katie Sweet (Seattle, Wash.), Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho), and Anne Finke (North Palm Beach, Fla.) includes three first-time national team members. Finke is the lone national team veteran, having won bronze in the event in 2002.
Likewise, the lightweight men's eight only has six entries and will be a final-only race. The crew of coxswain Bracknell Baker (Wellesley, Mass.), Cameron Booth (Buffalo, N.Y.), John Nichols (Palo Alto, Calif.), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Jake Goodman (Corrales, N.M.), Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Pete Morelli (Buffalo, N.Y.), Jon D'Alba (Berwyn, Pa.), and Sam Saylor (San Diego, Calif.) will take on boats from Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. Ruckman, a two-time Olympian, is the lone national team veteran in the boat.
Bjorn Larsen (Lake Stevens, Wash.), Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.), Evan Price (Butler, Pa.), and Shane Madden (Ambler, Pa.) will take on four other crews in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls. The final-only race will take place on the final day of competition. The boat includes two national team veterans in Larsen and Liverman.
In the adaptive events, Angela Madsen (Long Beach, Calif.) and Scott Brown (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) are back to defend their title in the trunk-arms double sculls. Madsen and Brown have won the event every year it has been contested. Ron Harvey (Long Beach, Calif.) has won back-to-back bronze medals in the adaptive men's single sculls. He will be looking to reach the podium for the third year in a row.
Patty Rollison (Reno, Nev.) will race in the adaptive women's single sculls. This is the first year the U.S. has entered the event. The legs-trunk-arms four with coxswain includes Ryan Pawling (Jenkintown, Pa.), Jesse Karmazin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Aerial Gilbert (Tiburon, Calif.), Jamie Dean (Pickerington, Ohio), and Jennifer Klapper (Scotia, N.Y.). Karmazin, Gilbert, and Klapper are the veterans of the squad.
SUPPORT ROW2K
If you enjoy and rely on row2k, we need your help to be able to keep doing all this. Though row2k sometimes looks like a big, outside-funded operation, it mainly runs on enthusiasm and grit. Help us keep it coming, thank you! Learn more.
ADVERTISEMENT
row2k media is not responsible for external ad content