row2k news US Men's Four Wins Re-Row to Advance at 2006 World Rowing Championships
August 24, 2006
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After racing New Zealand to a dead heat for third place in the first semifinal of the men's four, the U.S. boat of Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.), and Michael Blomquist (Greensboro, N.C.) came back to win a head-to-head battle with New Zealand in a late afternoon re-row to secure a spot in Saturday's race for the medals. The victory highlighted the fifth day of competition at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships on Dorney Lake in Eton, England, which saw three American crews advance to the finals.
With only the top three finishers in each semifinal advancing, the dead heat in the men's four forced a re-row for the last qualifying spot in the final. In the race, the U.S. got off to a strong start and built an open-water advantage over New Zealand at the 1,000-meter mark. After experiencing a fierce New Zealand comeback in the second half of the semifinal, the U.S. countered every move its opponent made during the last half of the re-row to come home with a 1.57-second victory.
The semifinal was a tight race for the top four positions, with the final margin from first to fourth being 0.69 seconds. After 500 meters, the U.S. held a slight advantage over the field and then sat in second behind the Netherlands at the 1,000- and 1,500-meter marks. France continued to stay close to the leading crews and used a strong final 1,000 meters to row through the Netherlands in the last few strokes. After dropping 3.53 seconds off the pace at the midway point of the race, New Zealand made an outstanding charge over the final 1,000 meters to cross the line in a tie for third. France won the race with a time of 5:50.55, followed by the Netherlands in a 5:50.85. The U.S. and New Zealand ended with identical times of 5:51.24. Great Britain won the second semifinal of the men's four, with Germany and Slovenia also advancing to the final. Great Britain clocked a 5:49.94.
The U.S. also advanced to the finals in the women's single sculls and lightweight women's single sculls on Thursday.
In the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) held off a furious charge by Italy's Gabriella Bascelli to finish third in her semifinal and claim the last spot in Saturday's final. Racing in the first of two semifinals, Guerette held the third position by open water at the 1,000-meter mark and by a length with just 500 meters to go. Bascelli continued to eat into Guerette's lead during the final quarter of the race, closing the gap to just a few feet in the last strokes. However, the American was able to hold on for third and claim a spot in the final. Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten won the race with a time of 7:23.42, with Sweden's Frida Svensson finishing second in a 7:25.74. Guerette finished third in a 7:28.62, 0.95 seconds ahead of the Italian. In the second semifinal, the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova clocked a 7:21.76 to defeat France's Sophie Balmary by 7.20 seconds. Russia's Julia Levina finished third to also advance to the final.
"It's a pretty swift tailwind out here," Guerette said. "I tried to go with a little bit more of a front-loaded raceplan. In the past, I've tended to have a slower first 500 and then try to do a lot of the work in the second and third 500s. This time, we thought that there was a risk that someone would get an early break, and it would be hard to come back from that. The idea was to push it in the second 250 to make sure I was in a good position."
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.), a 10-time national team member and two-time medalist in the event, advanced to Saturday's final by finishing third in the second of two semifinals. Schlenker sat in fourth position for the first half of the race before taking control of the third and last qualifying spot in the final during the second 1,000 meters. Schlenker finished with a time of 7:50.06. Germany's Berit Carow won the race with a time of 7:43.37, followed by Italy's Erika Bello in a 7:48.23. The first semifinal of the lightweight women's single ended up with four scullers crossing the finish line within one second of each other, with Cuba finishing in fourth and just missing the final. Switzerland's Pamela Weisshaupt won the race with a time of 7:44.29, followed by scullers from the Netherlands and Spain.
The men's pair of Sam Burns (Seattle, Wash.) and Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.) finished fourth in its semifinal and will now race in the B final, which determines places 7-12. The crew sat in fifth position through the first 1,500 meters before passing South Africa, which encountered problems in the final 500 meters and dropped to sixth. New Zealand, the defending world champions, won the semifinal with a time of 6:19.62. China finished second in a 6:22.46, followed by Germany in a 6:25.03. Burns and Beery crossed the finish line with a time of 6:34.01. Australia, Great Britain, and Canada advanced from the second semifinal.
In the women's double sculls, Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) finished fifth in its semifinal and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. The U.S. duo got off the line well and crossed the 500-meter mark in fourth place but in a virtual tie for second position behind Belarus. Francia and Sickler still sat in fourth at the midway point of the race, about a half-length behind the third-place crew from Great Britain. However, they were unable to keep pace as they dropped to fifth during the final 1,000 meters. Belarus led the race from start-to-finish, with Germany coming in second and Great Britain holding on for third place. Belarus clocked a 6:54.62. The U.S. finished in a 7:06.26. In the first semifinal, New Zealand, Australia, and the Ukraine advanced to the final.
In the men's single sculls, Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.) finished sixth in the second semifinal of the men's single sculls and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. Schroeder sat in second position through the 500-meter mark before dropping back to sixth place. He crossed the finish line with a time of 6:54.22. The Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek won the race in a 6:45.12, followed by Norway's Olaf Tufte in a 6:46.52. Great Britain's Alan Campbell finished third. In the first semifinal, defending world champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand defeated Germany's Marcel Hacker. Belgium's Tim Maeyens finished third. Drysdale clocked a 6:42.58, followed by Hacker in a 6:43.87.
The men's double sculls tandem of Francis Cuddy (Amherst, N.H.) and Shane O'Mara (Tampa, Fla.) finished fourth in the C final for a 16th-place finish overall. The crew clocked a 6:22.31 to finish 2.79 seconds behind the winners from Hungary. In the morning C/D semifinal, Cuddy and O'Mara finished third to advance to the C final. The U.S. clocked a 6:38.11 in that race.
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