Three United States crews won their heats and two others advanced directly to the semifinals to highlight the second day of competition at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships on Dorney Lake in Eton, England.
The women's eight, men's eight, and lightweight women's double sculls all won their heats in convincing fashion, while the men's quadruple sculls just missed winning its heat by less than a tenth of a second.
The women's eight of 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), Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.), and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) dominated its heat, defeating China by 4.68 seconds. The crew rocketed off the line, grabbing a length advantage on the field just 500 meters into the race. The boat continued to build its lead through the middle 1,000 meters and led by a length of open water with just 500 meters to go. The U.S. crossed the finish line with a time of 6:04.80 to earn an automatic berth in Sunday's final. China finished second in a 6:09.48. In what was a much tighter race, Australia defeated Germany in the other heat by 1.06 seconds. Australia finished with a time of 6:05.00.
"It gets a little choppy in the first 500 meters, and we knew the whole heat wanted to be quick off the start," Whipple said. "We wanted to get up quickly and settle into a consistent base pace. Our focus was on staying consistent and executing our rhythm."
The men's eight of 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.) easily won its heat to advance to Friday's semifinals. The men's boat used a similar strategy to the women, grabbing the lead within the first 250 meters. The crew continued to build its lead over the next 750 meters and held an eight-seat advantage at the midway point of the race. Poland made a small push during the last 500 meters, but the U.S. was never really challenged for the top spot. The U.S. clocked a 5:29.57 to finish 1.98 seconds ahead of Poland.
"We established the lead early, which gave us a lot of confidence," McElhenney said. "It was a little bit of a dogfight with the Polish boat. We would be up open water and then they would push back to two-seat. Getting out quickly gave us confidence and then we were able to play a little bit of defense the rest of the way."
Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.), who won silver at last year's world championships, got off to a strong start by winning their heat of the lightweight women's double sculls by a boat length. The duo dominated from the start, building a two-second advantage on Ireland by the 500-meter mark. The U.S. continued to increase its advantage during the second quarter of the race, building an open-water lead at the 1,000-meter mark. Ireland was able to cut into that lead during the second half of the race, but the U.S. was never really challenged and held on for a boat-length victory. Nichols and Hykel clocked a 6:57.71, while Ireland crossed the finish line in a 6:59.56. Nichols and Hykel advanced directly to Friday's semifinals.
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.) just missed winning the heat, finishing second by 0.05 seconds. The crew still automatically qualified for Friday's semifinals, however. With the top three crews advancing to the semis, the U.S. bolted off of the starting line to grab the early lead. The U.S. held a half-length advantage on China after 500 meters and continued to hold a similar lead over Italy as the crews crossed the midway point of the race. The Italians made a strong push over the next 750 meters and took a small lead with just 250 meters to go. However, the U.S. responded as the two crews neared the finish line and narrowly missed retaking the top spot in the final few strokes. Italy crossed the finish line with a time of 5:50.50, with the U.S. finishing in a 5:50.55.
Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished third in their heat of the lightweight men's pair to advance directly to Friday's semifinals. The duo sat in fourth position through the 1,000-meter mark before overtaking Serbia for third place and the last qualifying spot for the semifinals. Australia won the heat with a time of 6:36.18. Spain finished second, 1.58 seconds behind. The U.S. clocked a 6:56.31.
The lightweight women's quadruple sculls quartet of Michelle Trannel (East Dubuque, Ill.), Katie Sweet (Seattle, Wash.), Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho), and Anne Finke (North Palm Beach, Fla.) finished second in its heat and will now race in a repechage on Wednesday. The crew sat in second position behind Great Britain the entire way down the course. The British crew clocked a 6:38.21, while the U.S. finished 5.96 seconds behind in a 6:44.17. Great Britain advanced directly to Sunday's final, as did China, which won the other heat with a world's best time of 6:29.24.
The lightweight men's double sculls tandem of Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.) and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished third in its heat and now will race in the repechages. The duo sat in third position the entire way down the course, finishing with a time of 6:37.16. France won the heat in a 6:21.37, followed by the defending Olympic champions from Poland. The top two crews advanced directly to the semifinals.
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 third in its heat and will now race in a repechage. Russia led the race for the first 1,500 meters before the defending world champions from Great Britain came back to win the race. The U.S. sat in third position the entire way down the course. Great Britain clocked a 6:19.92 to finish 1.07 seconds ahead of Russia, earning a spot in the final. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:30.95. Australia won the other heat to advance directly to the final.
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.) finished fourth in its heat and will now race in the repechages. The crew got off to a strong start and held a 0.54-second lead over Germany at the 500-meter mark. However, the German crew clocked the fastest second quarter of the race to gain a one-second advantage over the U.S. at the 1,000-meter mark. Germany continued to build on its lead during the next 500 meters before Canada made a huge push for first place during the final quarter of the race. Germany clocked a 5:55.77 to hold on to win by 0.22 seconds, earning the automatic qualifying spot for the semifinals. The U.S. finished fourth in a 6:00.83.