A trio of U.S. single scullers - Michelle Guerette, Jen Goldsack and Ivan Baldychev - won their heats on Sunday to highlight the first day of competition at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
Racing in the first of six heats of the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) controlled the race from start to finish, winning with a time of 7:40.11 to advance to Tuesday's quarterfinals. Guerette established her lead over Russia's Julia Levina in the first 500 meters, building a 1.48-second advantage. The American continued to increase her lead to more than 4.5 seconds through the 1,500-meter mark before coasting to a 2.66-second victory. Levina finished second with a time of 7:42.77. Cuba's Maira Gonzalez Borroto and Germany's Suzanne Schmidt finished third and fourth, respectively, also advancing to the quarterfinals.
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, Surrey, United Kingdom) defeated two-time defending world champion Marit Van Eupen from The Netherlands in the third of four heats to advance directly to Thursday's semifinals. Canada's Melanie Kok grabbed the early lead before Goldsack and Van Eupen took the top two positions during the second quarter of the race. Goldsack led Van Eupen by 0.87 seconds at the midway point before the Dutch sculler closed the gap to 0.27 seconds heading into the final 500 meters. With just one qualifying spot for the semifinals up for grabs, Goldsack responded in the last quarter of the race and pulled away from her challenger. Goldsack won the race with a time of 7:41.61, finishing 6.76 seconds ahead of Van Eupen's time of 7:48.37. The two scullers clocked the two fastest times of the heats.
Lightweight men's single sculler Ivan Baldychev (Newark, Del.) also won his heat to advance to the semifinals. Racing in the first of four heats, Baldychev blasted off of the starting line to build a 3.33-second lead over The Netherlands' Jaap Schouten during the first 500 meters. Baldychev continued to lead by more than three seconds as the two scullers went through the 1,000-meter mark. However, Schouten made a strong push in the third quarter of the race to cut the lead to just over one second with 500 meters to go. But, Baldychev was able to hold off the charge, clocking a 7:04.84 to win by 0.44 seconds. Like Goldsack in the lightweight women's event, Baldychev recorded the fastest time of the heats.
The women's pair of Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia J. McGee (Seattle, Wash.) finished third in its heat to advance directly to the semifinals. McGee, who also is racing in the women's four, was forced into action in the pair on Saturday after Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) had to be replaced due to medical reasons. Despite a limited number of rows together prior to the heat, Mickelson and McGee were still able to challenge the 2005 World Champions from New Zealand and the 2004 Olympic Champions from Romania for most of the race. The U.S. duo grabbed an early lead as the crews passed through the 500-meter mark and held the second position at the midway point of the race, just 0.41 seconds behind New Zealand's Nicola Coles and Juliette Haigh. However, New Zealand and Romania began pulling away in the third quarter of the race, with New Zealand holding off a late Romanian charge to win with a time of 7:11.21. Romania's Viorica Susanu and Georgeta Damian-Andrunache finished second in a 7:11.74, while the U.S. clocked a 7:16.60.
Racing in the first of four heats, the men's pair of Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) finished second and will now row in the repechages, or second-chance races, on Tuesday. The duo sat in fifth position through the 1,000-meter mark before working its way through most of the field. Great Britain's Matthew Langridge and Colin Smith passed Croatia in the final 500 meters to win the race. Great Britain clocked a 6:37.27, with the U.S. finishing 3.32 seconds behind in a 6:40.59. Canada crossed the line in third, followed by Croatia in fourth.
The men's double sculls duo of Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) finished third in its heat to advance to Tuesday's quarterfinals. Hughes and Stitt sat in third position the entire way down the course, well ahead of fourth-place Ukraine. Slovenia led the race from start to finish, crossing the line with a time of 6:23.32. Italy finished second in a 6:26.34, followed by the United States in a 6:27.35.
The men's four of Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.) and Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) finished third in its heat and now will race in the repechages. Rowing in the fourth of four heats, the quartet held second place behind New Zealand through the 1,500-meter mark before Germany passed them in the final quarter of the race. With only one crew advancing to the semifinals, New Zealand grabbed the lead off of the line and controlled the race the rest of the way down the course, finishing with a time of 5:58.81. Germany finished second in a 6:02.17, followed by the U.S. in a 6:04.82.
The women's double sculls tandem of Jen Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) and Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) finished third in its heat and now will race in the repechages on Tuesday. The duo sat in second place behind China's Liang Tian and Qin Li through the 1,000-meter mark. During the second half of the race, China continued to pull away from the rest of the field, while Romania overtook the U.S. for second place and a qualifying spot for the semifinals. China finished with a time of 6:58.76, followed by Romania in a 7:05.15 and the U.S. in a 7:14.59.
The men's pair with coxswain of Dave Florio (Marlton, N.J.), Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Patrick Godfrey (Gorham, Maine) finished fourth in its heat and will now race in a repechage on Tuesday. Racing in the second of two heats, the U.S. sat in fourth position the entire way down the course, crossing the finish line in a 7:29.85. Croatia led the race from start to finish, clocking a 7:04.92 to earn a spot in Saturday's final.
On Monday, the U.S. will have 14 more crews racing in heats. In total, the U.S. has entered 26 of the 27 events. The eight-day regatta, which serves as the primary country qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games, features 1,285 athletes racing in 474 crews from 68 nations. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed throughout the regatta at www.worldrowing.com.