With 13 crews competing at the 2008 Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team features an experienced group with more than 60 world championship and Olympic medals on its resume At the 2004 Olympic Games, the U.S. won gold in the men's eight and silver in the women's eight. In Beijing, the team will be looking to build on that performance.
The U.S. women's eight is coming off of two consecutive world championship titles and a victory at the 2008 FISA World Cup race in Lucerne, Switzerland. The boat 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.) includes three members of the 2004 Olympic women's eight in Whipple, Davies and Cummins and seven members of the back-to-back world championship crews. Romania comes into Beijing as the three-time defending Olympic champion in the event. The Romanians took home silver at the 2007 FISA World Championships and won this season's final world cup race in Poznan, Poland. Other crews to watch include Australia, which won the world cup race in Munich, Germany, and finished second in Lucerne; Canada, which won medals at two world cup races; and Great Britain, which finished third at last year's world championships.
For the third year in a row, Cummins also will race in the women's pair. The two-time Olympian will row with Portia McGee (Seattle, Wash.). The duo came together one day before the 2007 World Championships after Cummins' former partner, Megan Cooke, suffered an injury. This year, Cummins and McGee finished third at the world cup race in Lucerne before winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The duo will be looking for a spot on the podium in Beijing. China's Yulan Gao and You Wu have looked strong this year, winning the first two world cup races, while Belarus' Natallia Helakh and Yuliya Bichyk are the defending world champions and 2004 Olympic bronze medalists. Germany and Romania won medals at last year's world championships, while New Zealand and Australia should also be factors.
On the women's sculling side, two-time Olympian Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) won bronze in the women's single sculls at the 2007 World Championships and is striving to get back on the medal stand this year. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus enters the regatta as the favorite. Karsten, who won Olympic gold in the event in 1996 and 2000 and silver in 2004, has won the world title the last three years. The Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova has consistently finished second to Karsten on the world cup circuit the past two seasons and has two world championship silver medals on her resume(2005 and 2006), while Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova won silver at last year's world championships and has two Olympic medals in the event. China's Xiuyun Zhang and New Zealand's Emma Twigg lead a group of four or five additional scullers who are capable of challenging for medals.
The women's double sculls tandem of Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) finished fourth at the world cup race in Lucerne behind two Chinese crews and Germany. China, New Zealand and Great Britain took the top three spots at last year's world championships. The Chinese duo of Liang Tian and Qin Lu won gold at last year's worlds and won both world cup regattas in which they raced earlier this year. New Zealand's Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, the defending Olympic champions, finished second at last year's world championships, while Great Britain's Anna Bebington and Elise Laverick took home the bronze. The British duo is coming off a victory at the world cup race in Poznan. Having reached the podium twice this summer at world cup regattas, Germany's Christiane Huth and Annekatrin Thiele also should be in the medal hunt.
In the lightweight women's double sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, United Kingdom) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) finished second behind The Netherlands' Marit van Eupen and Kirsten van der Kolk, the defending Olympic bronze medalists, at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in June in Poznan, Poland. In addition to The Netherlands and U.S., Australia, Finland, Germany, Denmark and China should all be in contention in Beijing. Australia's Marguerite Houston and Amber Halliday won the world title last year, while Finland's Minna Nieminen and Sanna Sten finished second. Germany and Denmark tied for the bronze medal last year.
The women's quadruple sculls quartet of Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) won a silver medal at the world cup race in Lucerne, finishing just behind China. Great Britain comes into the Olympics as the three-time defending world champions. The British boat won the first world cup race in Munich but finished third behind China and the U.S. in Lucerne. Germany won the silver at last year's world championships and is led by four-time Olympic champion Kathrin Boron.
After finishing fourth at last year's world championships, the U.S. 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.) is striving to get back on the medal stand in Beijing. The crew includes three Olympic gold medalists, with Volpenhein, Allen and Hoopman returning from the 2004 boat. Canada will enter the regatta as the favorites, having won last year's world championships and this year's world cup race in Lucerne. Germany and Great Britain also reached the medal stand at last year's worlds. The British boat won the world cup race in Poznan, while Australia took the top spot at the race in Munich.
In the men's four, Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) finished third at the world cup race in Lucerne behind Australia and The Netherlands. All three crews should be in contention for medals, along with the defending world champions from New Zealand, Italy and the always strong British four.
In the men's pair, twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Greenwich, Conn.) will be racing for the first time internationally at the senior level. Australia's Duncan Free and Drew Ginn are the two-time defending world champions, while New Zealand's George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle have followed their 2005 world title with back-to-back world silver medals. Canada's Scott Frandsen and David Calder topped both Australia and New Zealand at the world cup race in Lucerne. Other pairs to watch include France, South Africa and Croatia.
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 eighth at the world cup race in Lucerne and will be looking to improve on that position in Beijing. The race is wide open as seven different crews won medals at the three world cup regattas this season. Great Britain, France and Italy took the top three spots at last year's world championships, while China won two world cup races this year. Other crews to watch include Denmark, Australia and Germany.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) served notice to the rest of the rowing world when it defeated Poland to win the gold medal at the world cup race in Lucerne. Poland, the three-time defending world champions, had not lost a race since 2005. Three weeks later in Poznan, the Polish boat was again beaten, finishing third behind Italy and France. Those four crews should all be medal contenders, along with Germany.
Men's single sculler Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) won the Final Olympic Qualification regatta to punch his ticket to the Olympic Games. The three-time national team member is racing the single for the first time internationally this season. New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale has won the last three world titles but finished second to the Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek, last year's world's silver medalist, in Lucerne. Norway's Olaf Tufte is the defending Olympic champion. Other medal contenders include Great Britain's Alan Campbell, Germany's Marcel Hacker and Sweden's Lassi Karonen.
In the men's double sculls, Elliot Hovey (Manchester-By-The-Sea, Mass.) and Wes Piermarini (West Brookfield, Mass.) will be making their first international appearance in Beijing. New Zealand's Nathan Cohen and Rob Waddell, the 2000 Olympic champion in the men's single sculls, came together earlier this year and have yet to lose a race. They will be challenged by the defending world champions and two-time Olympic medalists from Slovenia, Iztok Cop and Luka Spik, as well as France's Adrien Hardy and Jean-Baptiste Macquet, the 2006 world champions. Other crews to watch include Estonia, Great Britain, Germany and Australia.
Racing begins on Saturday, August 9, and runs through Sunday, August 17. Finals will be held August 16-17.