CHUNGJU, South Korea - The last time Will Daly rowed in the lightweight four in a world championship was on Lake Bled in 2011. Before that, he had raced in the boat for four consecutive years, starting with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Not once has he rowed in a world championships medal final. He’ll get another shot at that goal on Friday.
After holding off a late sprint from Spain and battling the reigning Olympic champion, South Africa, to the line, the United States lightweight men’s four crew of Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.), Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.), Robert Duff (Huntingdon Valley, Penn.) and Will Daly (Vail, Colo.) advanced out of the repechage at the 2013 World Rowing Championships and moved on to the semifinals.
“This is awesome,” Daly said. “This is a really good group of guys, a lot of experience, a lot of confidence, we just know we can go out and execute. It was 13 years ago (the U.S. lightweight men’s four reached a final in the event), so we have a big goal ahead of us to try and get in the A final.”
The U.S., with South Africa in the lane beside them, came off the line just a shade behind the Olympic champs and rowed next to them stroke for stroke the length of the course.
Spain, which had the Americans between them and the South Africans, were also determined to advance, and stayed in contact with the leaders until the closing 500 meters, when they tried to sprint through the U.S.
They got past the U.S. for what looked like at least 50 meters, but the American response pushed their bow back in front, and Daly and crew finished in second in 5:58.50 with Spain a shadow behind in 5:59.34.
[] “That was a better race (than the heat),” said Fahden, who was in the boat that finished eighth last summer in the London Olympics. “It was a faster start. The sprint maybe was not quite as sharp. We’re just looking forward to the semi now.”
It was a strong showing for the U.S. in quarterfinal and repechage racing Wednesday on the Tangeum International Regatta Course. Seven crews raced, and four will race again with a chance to medal.
The lightweight men’s single advanced from the quarterfinals, the men’s double sculls advanced from the reps, and the men’s pair with coxswain rowed in a preliminary race for lanes and will row in the final on Friday.
The lightweight men’s pair, lightweight men’s quadruple sculls and men’s single sculls did not advance.
Starting the day was the men’s pair with coxswain crew of coxswain Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Matt Wheeler (Eugene, Ore.) and Rob Munn (Redmond, Wash.). Of the 27 crews that came to Chungju, this crew had waited the longest to race and lined up with Germany, France and Italy. The U.S. finished third in 7:27.28. Italy led the entire race and won in 7:12.88. The final will be contested on Friday.
Lightweight men’s single sculler Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.) came down the course next rowing in the quarterfinals of his event against Malaysia, Korea, Portugal, Bulgaria and Tunisia.
Campbell jumped off the line and went hard and rowed in the lead until just after the thousand, and then appeared to back off, content to be in a qualifying position. Portugal’s Pedro Fraga rowed past and into the lead and Campbell did not respond.
Campbell held onto second and stayed comfortably in a qualifying spot to advance to the semifinals. Fraga finished first in 7:06.64. Campbell crossed second in 7:12.18, with Bulgaria’s Vasilev Nedelcho finishing third in 7:16.18.
“With four races, you’ve got to take each day one by one and focus on performing Friday,” Campbell said. “I definitely wanted to go out and have a good piece that would keep me fresh going towards tomorrow and the next day, but definitely not use everything in the tank. I’ve done this enough to know I have to race my own race and race a smart regatta.”
The men’s double sculls crew of John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) were the next U.S. boat to qualify. Rowing in the rep with three available slots to advance to the semifinals, Graves and Dann came off the line in third place and stayed there.
Serbia won in 6:23.21. Denmark was second in 6:24.84, and the U.S. was third in 6:29.91.
“It was really hot,” said Graves. “In the reps you never take anything for granted. We were in a good qualifying position for most of the race, but everyone was pushing the whole time. The Czechs weren’t giving up right behind us. It wasn’t our best race, but we achieved our goal by making it through to the semis and kind of from here, want to see what we can do.”
The lightweight men’s pair of Greg Flood (Tulsa, Okla.) and Frank Petrucci (Warwick, N.Y.), rowing in the rep for a chance to race for a medal, finished third, one spot out. The U.S. will race in the B final Friday. Canada won in 6:50.59, and the U.S. crossed in 6:59.33.
The lightweight men’s quadruple sculls crew of Andrew Quinn (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.), Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.), Dave Smith (Seattle, Wash.) and Shane Madden (Ambler, Pa.) finished third in its rep and will now row in the B final Friday.
While they were in contention for the length of the race, they were edged out in a sprint by Hong Kong. Denmark won in 5:57.49. Hong Kong finished in 5:59.56 and the U.S. just missed in 5:59.86.
In the last race of the morning for the U.S., men’s single sculler Stephen Whelpley (Moquon, Wis.) raced in a world-class lineup rep that included Germany’s Marcel Hacker, Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan and London Olympic Champion, Mahe Drysdale.
Whelpley finished fifth in 7:12.73. Hacker won in 6:57.37, and Bulgaria’s Georgi Bozholov was third in 7:00.21. Drysdale was fourth in 7:01.70. Whelpley races next in the C/D semifinal Thursday.
Thursday Race Preview: 2013 World Rowing Championships
[] Six United States crews will race for spots in the medal finals on Thursday at the 2013 World Rowing Championships.
With high winds and heavy rain predicted for the Chungju region, semifinal racing scheduled for Thursday afternoon was moved to Thursday morning beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Starting the day is lightweight men’s single sculler Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.). Campbell won his heat Sunday, and then placed second in his quarterfinal on Wednesday to advance to Thursday’s semi. He will line up with Canada, France, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria in the first semifinal, with the top three scullers advancing to the final.
Campbell won bronze in the event at the combined senior and junior world championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria last year. Most recently, the 21-year-old rising Harvard University senior won gold in Linz, Austria at the 2013 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. France’s Jeremie Azou holds the world best time in the event.
Up next is lightweight women’s single sculler Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.), racing in the second semi against Austria, South Africa, Brazil, Great Britain and Germany. Sechser finished second in her heat Sunday behind Canada’s Patricia Obee, who is racing in the first semifinal.
Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) and Taylor Goetzinger (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) race next in the first semifinal of the women’s pair against Italy, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand and Russia. The U.S. can expect tough competition from Great Britain’s Helen Glover, a London Olympic champion, and Polly Swann, as well as New Zealand’s Kayla Pratt and London bronze medalist Rebecca Scown.
[] Musnicki, a 2012 gold medalist who is doubling up in the women’s eight here in Chungju, and under 23 gold medalist Goetzinger led from the start in Sunday’s heat, with Russia and Germany in second and third. The top three crews in Thursday’s semi will advance to the final.
Following a second place finish in Tuesday’s rep, the lightweight men’s double sculls crew of Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) will race Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Ukraine in the semi, with the top three advancing.
The new Italian combination of Andrea Micheletti and Pietro Ruta won silver in Lucerne, while Switzerland is coming off of a bronze-medal finish the 2013 European Championships.
In the lightweight women’s double sculls, the Lucerne silver-medal crew of Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) and Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) race Denmark, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa and Argentina. Bertko and Hedstrom won the heat Sunday, and will need to place top three here for a spot in the final.
Italy’s Laura Milani and Elisabetta Sancassani are unbeaten this season, and gunning for Italy’s first senior world championship title for Italian women’s rowing.
Next up in the men’s four, Michael Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) race Serbia, Belarus, The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany in the semifinal.
The Lucerne gold medalists led from start to finish in its heat Sunday to advance to the semi. Rummel returns to the crew that won bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, while Gennaro served as an alternate last summer.
Two crews - the U.S. men’s pair of Alex Karwoski (Hollis, N.H.) and Michael DiSanto (Boston, Mass.) and men’s single sculler Stephen Whelpley (Moquon, Wis.) are scheduled to race in the C/D semifinals for a place in the C final.
For complete event information visit, http://www.worldrowing.com/events/chungju-2013-world-rowing-championships