BEIJING - The U.S. men's quadruple sculls crew finished second in its semifinal to advance to the final, highlighting Thursday's rowing competition at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) finished second behind Italy in the second of two semifinals to advance to Sunday's race for the medals. The crew stalked Italy for the first half of the race before it held off France and Estonia down the stretch.
"We planned to be a little aggressive in the race," Gault said. "We came off a little flat in that first race. In the first 1,000, we had a good start and stayed with Italy for the most part. They got away from us a little bit. It was a long race in the headwind. We really had to stave off a strong sprint from France and Estonia."
Italy won the race with a time of 5:51.20, while the U.S. clocked a 5:52.81 to finish 0.23 seconds ahead of the French crew. Estonia finished fourth, missing a spot in the final. Poland, Australia and Germany advanced from the first semifinal.
"The race went well," Hughes said. "I think we executed the way we wanted to, so we're pretty pleased with things and can't wait for the final. The second 1,000, we just wanted to hold people off. We had position. We were going to the final. It wasn't about winning that race; it was about making the final, so we just tried to relax and make sure no one walked on us."
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Jen Goldsack (Banstead, United Kingdom) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) missed out on a spot in the final by 0.16 seconds after finishing fourth in its semifinal. The duo made a strong push over the last 500 meters to move up from fifth position but fell just short of Greece. Canada's Tracy Cameron and Melanie Kok took command early in the race. The duo built more than a three-second lead at the midway point and a four-second lead with 500 meters to go, before holding on for the 0.89-second victory. Canada won the race in a 7:10.70, with China finishing second in a 7:11.59. Greece earned the last qualification spot by crossing the line in a 7:11.99, followed by the U.S. in a 7:12.15. The U.S. will now race in the B final for places 7-12 on Saturday.
Racing in the second of two semifinals, 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 sixth and will now race in the B final for places 7-11. Denmark finished first in a 6:05.75, defeating France by 1.51 seconds. Great Britain finished third in a 6:08.75, earning the other qualifying spot. The U.S. boat got off the line in sixth and was never able to challenge for a top three position, finishing with a time of 6:16.30.
Three U.S. crews raced in B finals today, which determine overall places 7-12.
The women's pair of Anna Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia McGee (Seattle, Wash.) led from start to finish to win the B final for a seventh-place finish overall. The duo clocked a 7:33.17 to defeat France by 3.08 seconds.
The men's four of Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall. New Zealand won the race with a time of 6:06.30, with The Netherlands finishing second in a 6:06.37 and the U.S. coming home in a 6:07.17.
In the men's single sculls, Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) finished fifth in the B final for an 11th-place finish overall. Jurkowski finished with a time of 7:22.75. Germany's Marcel Hacker won the race with a time of 7:07.82.