The U.S. will have six crews looking to advance to the finals on Friday at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. The men's eight, lightweight men's pair, lightweight women's double sculls, lightweight men's four, women's quadruple sculls and men's quadruple sculls will be trying to move on to the race for the medals.
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.) won its repechage, or second-chance race, on Wednesday and will now race in the second of two semifinals on Friday. The crew will face Russia, Australia, The Netherlands, France and Poland, with the top three finishers advancing to the final. Russia is the lone heat winner in the race, while China and The Netherlands finished second in their heats.
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Jana Heere (Bensalem, Pa.) and Wendy Tripician (Needham, Mass.) finished third in its repechage to advance to the semifinals. The duo will take on crews from Greece, Germany, Great Britain, China and Italy, with the top three crews advancing to the final. Greece is the lone heat winner in the race, while China and Germany finished second in their heats.
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 will take on The Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, France and Poland in the second of two semifinals. Canada and France won their quarterfinal races and enter the second semi as the top seeds. The top three finishers move on to the final.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Mark Flickinger (Big Flats, N.Y.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) came back in the final few strokes of its repechage to finish second and earn a spot in the semifinals. With the top three crews advancing, the quartet will take on Australia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy and Estonia in the second of two semifinals. Germany and Italy are the two heat winners in the race.
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.), Christen Brown (Tecumseh, Mich.), Liane Malcos (Carlisle, Mass.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished fourth in its heat and will now race in a repechage on Friday. The boat will face Germany, France, Belarus and Russia in the second of two repechages, with the top two finishers moving on to the final.
In the lightweight men's pair, Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) and Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.) also finished fourth in their heat and will race in the first of two repechages. Carcagno and Smith will face Denmark, Greece, Germany and Canada, with the top two finishers advancing to the final.
The lightweight men's double sculls tandem of Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished fourth in its C/D semifinal and will now race in the D final for places 19-22. The duo will take on crews from Turkey, Uruguay and Slovakia.
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.