The United States will have nine crews racing for medals on Sunday, the final day of competition at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships on Dorney Lake in Eton, England.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls, lightweight women's quadruple sculls, men's four with coxswain, women's eight, and men's eight will all race in finals tomorrow. In addition, the adaptive men's single sculls, adaptive women's single sculls, trunk-arms double sculls, and legs-trunk-arms four with coxswain will be racing for medals in the adaptive events.
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 to advance to the final. The U.S. is one of the favorites heading into Sunday's race, along with Australia, who won the other heat. Those two crews will be joined by Germany, Canada, China, and Romania in the final.
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.) followed its win in the heat with a 0.01-second victory over Germany in the semifinal. The U.S. and Australia enter the final as the top two seeds by virtue of their victories in the semis. As it showed in Friday's race, Germany is a strong contender in the event as well. Italy, Great Britain, and Poland also advanced to the final and round out the six-boat field.
Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.), Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.), and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished fourth in the repechage of the women's quadruple sculls to advance to Sunday's final. The quartet will take on heat winners Australia and Great Britain, as well as Russia, China, and Germany, in the final.
The lightweight women's quadruple sculls crew of Michelle Trannel (East Dubuque, Ill.), Katie Sweet (Seattle, Wash.), Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho), and Anne Finke (North Palm Beach, Fla.) advanced to the final with a third-place finish in the repechage, or second-chance race. In the final, the crew will take on heat winners China and Great Britain, as well as Denmark, Germany, and Canada.
With only six entries, the men's four with coxswain is a final-only race that did not require heats. However, the six crews raced for lanes on Wednesday morning. The U.S. crew of Dane van den Akker (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.), Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Chris Callaghan (Tualatin, Ore.), and Brodie Buckland (Olympia, Wash.) led that race through the 1,000-meter mark before coming home in fourth place. Great Britain won the race and will be the top seed in Sunday's final. Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Italy fill out the six-boat final.
Likewise, the lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Bjorn Larsen (Lake Stevens, Wash.), Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.), Evan Price (Butler, Pa.), and Shane Madden (Ambler, Pa.) rowed in a race for lanes on Wednesday, where it finished fifth. The crew will race Italy, Germany, France, and Great Britain in the medal race.