Eleven U.S. crews will take to the water in heats on the first day of competition Sunday at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. A total of twenty-four crews will represent the United States at the championships on Lake Malta August 23-30.
The 80-person roster includes 66 past national team members. Twenty athletes return from last year's squad that competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China where the United States won three medals including gold in the women's eight, silver in the women's single sculls and bronze in the men's eight.
In addition, nine athletes return to the roster from last year's squad that competed at the 2008 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships where the U.S. won gold in the lightweight men's eight, silver in the women's four and bronze in the lightweight women's quadruple sculls. The U.S. also will be competing in two adaptive boat classes, with two athletes returning from the 2008 Paralympic Games.
Beginning the quest for medals on Sunday is the women's single sculls, men's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls, lightweight women's single sculls, men's double sculls, women's double sculls, men's pair, women's pair, men's pair with coxswain, men's four and the lightweight men's eight.
Racing in the second heat of the women's double sculls, Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) will take on Germany, Ukraine and Australia. The tandem finished fifth in the event at the 2008 Olympic Games and is coming off of a gold-medal finish at the world cup race in Lucerne. The top three finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
In the women's pair, 2008 Olympic gold-medalists Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) will compete in a field of 14 crews. The duo, also doubling up in the women's eight event, finished fifth at the 2009 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne. Cafaro and Francia will take on Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve of Great Britain, Australia's Kim Crow and Sarah Cook, Portugal and Belarus in the second of three heats. The top three finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
The men's four lineup of Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Steve Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Cameron Winklevoss (Greenwich, Conn.) will race in the first of three heats. All four athletes return from the 2008 Olympic Games. Newlin and Lanzone finished ninth in the event in Beijing, while Coppola was a member of the men's eight and Winklevoss competed in the men's pair. The U.S. will take on Egypt, Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland and Greece with the top two finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals and the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) will race in the second heat of the men's pair. The duo will test its speed Sunday against Greece, Serbia and Kazakhstan after taking home the bronze medal from the world cup in Lucerne. Banks was a member of the men's four in Beijing, while Cole won bronze in last year's under 23 men's eight. The top three finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio) will compete in a field of 18 scullers in the women's single sculls event. Shumway, the stroke of the Beijing women's quadruple sculls that finished fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games, returns solo to race in the first heat against Lucerne gold-medalist Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, three-time Olympic medalist Katherine Granger of Great Britain, Norway, Poland and Estonia. The top two finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
Leading the way in number of entries with 26, Warren Anderson (Paso Robles, Calif.) will compete in the men's single sculls. Anderson, a 2008 Olympic alternate, posted a pair of ninth-place finishes at the world cups in Banyoles and Munich. Racing in the second of four heats, he will be up against Great Britain's Alan Campbell, Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Iraq. The winner of each heat moves on to the semifinals, while the remaining crews will race in the repechages.
The lightweight men's eight crew will be looking to defend its world-championship title in a field of nine crews. The lineup of coxswain Kerry Quinn (Havertown, Pa.), Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.), Andrew Diebold (North Wales, Pa.), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.), Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.), Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.), Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.), Matt Kochem (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) and Skip Dise (Beverly Hills, Mich.) will compete against Japan, The Netherlands and Turkey in the second of two heats. The winner of each heat advances directly to the finals, while the remaining crews go to the repechages. Muffelman returns as the lone member of last year's lineup.
In the men's double sculls, the duo of Thomas Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) will make its senior national team debut racing in the third and final heat. The Graves' finished second at last year's U.S. Olympic Trials and will be competing against Lucerne gold medalists Eric Knittel and Stephan Krueger of Germany, Switzerland, Belarus, Slovenia and late-entry Uzbekistan. The top two finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.) will compete in a field of 25 scullers in the men's lightweight single sculls. The four-time senior national team member finished sixth in the lightweight quadruple sculls event at the 2007 World Rowing Championships. Lowry will take on Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and South Africa in the second of four heats. The winner of each heat moves on to the semifinals, while the remaining crews will race in the repechages.
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Meghan Sarbanis (Hampstead, N.H.) will be up against 18 other scullers. She is scheduled to race Algeria, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic and Hong Kong in the third heat. The top two finishers in each heat advance to the semifinals, with the remaining crews moving on to the repechages.
In the men's pair with coxswain, the crew of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Troy Kepper (Tallahassee, Fla.) is scheduled to compete in a field of seven crews. McElhenney coxed the men's eight to bronze in Beijing, while Rummel was a member of the 2008 bronze-medal under 23 men's eight and Kepper won silver in the men's four with coxswain at the 2005 World Rowing Championships. The U.S. crew will take on Germany and France in the second of two heats. The winner of each heat advances directly to the finals, while the remaining crews go to the repechages.
On Monday, the U.S. will have eleven more crews racing in heats. In total, the U.S. has entered 24 of the 27 events. The eight-day regatta features 973 athletes racing in 358 crews from 54 nations. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed throughout the regatta at www.worldrowing.com. Live coverage of the finals (August 29-30) will be streamed on the Web at http://fisa.feedroom.com.
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