The U.S. men's and women's eights won their repechages and seven total U.S. boats advanced to either the semifinals or finals on Wednesday at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
The men's eight, men's quadruple sculls, lightweight men's four and lightweight women's double sculls advanced to the semifinals, while the women's eight, lightweight men's quadruple sculls and lightweight women's quadruple sculls moved on to the finals.
The men's eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Patrick O'Dunne (Nazareth, Pa.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Brodie Buckland (Olympia, Wash.) and Alex Hearne (Princeton, N.J.) dominated the competition in winning its repechage, or second-chance race, and will now race in the semifinals on Friday. The crew took the lead in the first 500 meters and pulled away from the rest of the field in the second quarter of the race, ultimately winning by open water. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:44.41. Switzerland clocked a 5:49.21 to finish second, while France earned the other spot in the semifinals by finishing third in a 5:49.35.
After finishing second in its heat, 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.), Sam Magee (Simsbury, Conn.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) came back to win its repechage, qualifying for a spot in Sunday's final. Racing in the second of two repechages, the crew raced bow-ball to bow-ball with Great Britain through the first 750 meters before slowly pulling away for the victory. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:22.20, 1.38 seconds ahead of Great Britain. Germany and Canada took the top two spots in the other repechage. The four crews join heat winners Romania and Australia in Sunday's final.
In the first repechage of the men's quadruple sculls, Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) made a huge push over the last quarter of the race, overtaking Canada in the final few strokes to finish second and earn a spot in the semifinals. With only two qualification spots available, the U.S. boat sat in fourth position at the 1,000-meter mark and in third place, 1.56-seconds off of second, with just 500 meters to go. But in the final quarter of the race, the crew cut into Canada's lead with every stroke and finished 0.26 seconds in front. While the two North American crews were battling each other, Belarus was barely hanging on for the victory. Belarus won the race in a 6:08.68, finishing 0.43 seconds ahead of the United States' time of 6:09.11. Canada clocked a 6:09.37.
"I'm really glad we practiced our sprint," Flickinger said. "I could feel we were moving, especially that last 10 (strokes). I thought we had Canada, but you never know until you cross the line. Sloan did a nice job keeping us focused. It would have been a real heartbreaker to come from behind like that and not make it."
The lightweight men's four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) and Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) finished third in its quarterfinal to advance to Friday's semifinals. The crew started off in fifth position before moving into third place with 500 meters remaining. Australia crossed the finish line in a 6:13.82 to defeat Denmark by 0.97 seconds. The U.S. clocked a 6:17.20 to earn the third and last spot in the semifinals.
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) and Wendy Tripician (Needham, Mass.) finished third in the second of two repechages to advance to the semifinals. The duo led through the 1,000-meter mark before Great Britain made its move to take the lead. Great Britain went on to win the race in a 7:23.43, followed by Japan in second place in a 7:25.65. The U.S. crew finished third with a time of 7:26.72.
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, the crew of Carey Brezler (Waynesboro, Pa.), Sarah Bates (Garrison, N.Y.), Margaret Duggan (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Hannah Moore (Niskayuna, N.Y.) earned a spot in the final after finishing second in its repechage. The quartet held second place behind China the entire way down the course. China finished with a time of 6:49.06, while the U.S. came home in a 6:50.91. Germany and The Netherlands also advanced. The four crews join heat winners Australia and Great Britain in the final.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.), Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.), Jon D'Alba (Berwyn, Pa.) and Sam Saylor (San Diego, Calif.) finished third in its repechage to advance to the final. The quartet sat in fourth place through the 1,500-meter mark before passing Denmark in the final 500 meters. Great Britain led the race from start to finish, clocking a 6:08.70. Germany finished second in a 6:10.20, followed by the United States in a 6:11.47. Denmark finished fourth to earn the last qualifying spot. The four crews move on to face heat winners France and Italy in the final.
With the top three crews advancing to the semifinals, the lightweight men's double sculls tandem of Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished fifth in its quarterfinal. After getting off the line in sixth position, Liverman and Montgomery sat in fourth place at the 1,500-meter mark as they made a charge at the third-place crew from the Czech Republic. However, Austria also was making a strong move, and while the Czech boat was able to hold off the Americans, it was unable to keep the Austrians at bay. Denmark won the race in a 6:38.52, with Japan finishing second in a 6:42.03. Austria earned the final qualifying spot by finishing third in a 6:43.62. The U.S. finished fifth in a 6:47.79 and will now race in the C/D semifinals on Thursday, which determine the crews that will race in the C finals for places 13-18 and the D finals for places 19-24.
With only six entries, the men's four with coxswain of Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Chris Liwski (Sarasota, Fla.), Sam Burns (Seattle, Wash.), Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.) and Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.) won its race for lanes to earn the top seed in Sunday's final. The U.S. took an early advantage and led Germany by 1.26 seconds at the 1,000-meter mark. Over the second half of the race, Germany challenged the veteran American crew, but the U.S. was able to hold on to first, winning by 0.29 seconds. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:19.10, while Germany finished in a 6:19.39. The six crews will race for medals on Sunday.
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.