RACICE, Czech Republic -The women's eight, men's single sculls and men's four with coxswain crews each won their respective heats to highlight the opening day of competition at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
The defending world-champion U.S. women's eight dominated the first heat, winning by nearly 18 seconds to advance directly to Saturday's final. The crew of coxswain Christine Devlin (Harvard, Mass.), Rosemary Grinalds (Southport, Conn.), Louise Breen (Northampton, N.H.), Madison Lips (Parker, Colo.), Christina Bax (Bethesda, Md.), Marianne Hoeft (New Canaan, Conn.), Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska), Faith Richardson (Wellesley, Mass.) and Carli Goldberg (Sarasota, Fla.) got off the line with a clean start, gaining half of a boat length on Romania in the first 500 meters. The U.S. continued to pull away from the field over the 2,000-meter course, posting the fastest time of the heats in a 6:42.42. Romania held onto second place, crossing in a 7:00.25, followed by France in a 7:05.81.
In the men's single sculls, Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.) led from wire-to-wire to win the fourth heat by 4.3 seconds. Campbell, a member of the 2009 World Rowing Under 23 Championships squad, gained a 2.7-second lead on the field in the first quarter of the race and held onto that margin crossing each of the 500-meter marks, posting a final time of 7:29.62 to advance to the quarterfinals. Croatia's Boris Gardijan overtook Argentina's Facundo Torres in the sprint to finish second in a 7:33.93. Torres crossed third in a 7:34.53, with Albania's Marsel Nikaj picking up the fourth qualifying spot in a 7:34.93.
The U.S. men's four with coxswain walked through four crews in the last 750 meters to win by 1.5 seconds and advance to the semifinals. Racing in the first heat, coxswain Patrick O'Hara (Wilmette, Ill.), John McGrorty (Ambler, Pa.), Jacob Merrell (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Patrick Eble (Fort Washington, Pa.) and Michael Cox (Centerville, Va.) posted a wining time of 6:51.28. New Zealand crossed second in a 6:52.79, with Croatia in a 6:54.37 for third.
After a fifth-place finish in its morning heat, the men's double sculls duo of Nader Al-Naji (Fairfax, Va.) and Robert Rasmussen (Washington D.C.) came back to finish second in the repechage and qualify for Friday's quarterfinals. In the heat, Al-Naji and Rasmussen were in sixth place at the 500-meter mark before edging into fifth just before the halfway point. Germany won the race in a 6:47.97, while the U.S. crew crossed the line in a 7:14.64. In the repechage, the U.S. got off the line in third and overtook Latvia in the first quarter of the race to move into second. Argentina won the race in a 7:05.72, with the U.S. 0.4 seconds back in a 7:06.15.
The men's eight crew of coxswain Louis Lombardi (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Zachary Johnson (Marin, Calif.), Zachary Hershberger (Los Gatos, Calif.), Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.), Paul Popescu (Princeton, N.J.), Connor Jones (Wilmette, Ill.), Whitney Blodgett (Stanfordville, N.Y.), Patrick McGlone (Newton Square, Pa.) and Justin Jones (Bellmawr, N.J.) finished second in its heat, just missing a spot in the final. The Canadians led for the first half of the race, but were overtaken by Germany and the U.S. in the third 500 meters. Germany pushed for the win, posting a time of 5:53.66. The U.S. clocked a 5:57.20 and will now race in Friday's repechages for a second chance at the final.
Chandler Lally (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.J.), Agatha Nowinski (Sacramento, Calif.) and Lucy Grinalds (Southport, Conn.) also finished second in the first heat of the women's four, and will now race in the repechages. The U.S. crew, with two returning members of last year's junior team in Lally and Grinalds, was out in front over the first half of the race before New Zealand took the lead. New Zealand won in a 7:12.48, with the U.S. crew 3.5 seconds back in a 7:15.98.
In the women's single sculls, Alycia Daloia-Moore (Bronx, N.Y.) fell just short of qualifying with a third-place finish in the third heat. Daloia-Moore maintained her position over the length of the course, crossing in an 8:27.14. She will now race in Friday's repechages. Greece's Alkaterini Nikolaidou won the race in an 8:13.01, with Latvia's Elza Gulbe in second.
The women's pair of Elizabeth Youngling (Westport, Conn.) and Hemmingway Benton (Glencoe, Ill.) finished third its heat and will now race in the repechages for a second chance at the final. Youngling, who replaced teammate Eliza Spilsbury due to injury, and Benton clocked an 8:09.29. Romania's Alexandra Bizom and Elana-Oitita Hrisca won the race in a 7:52.50, with Germany in second with a time of 7:56.92.
Hannah Solis-Cohen (Northfield, Mass.), Margaret Bertasi (London, England), Alexandria Chrumka (Grosse Point, Mich.) and Sophie Heywood (Tempe, Ariz.) finished third in their heat of the women's quadruple sculls. Russia led the race for the first 1,500 meters, but fell back in the final stretch. Belarus crossed first with a time of 7:09.87, with Romania in second in a 7:13.07. The U.S. finished in a 7:15.78 and will now race in the repechages for the opportunity to qualify for the final.
In the women's double sculls, Susan Greenberg (Westport, Conn.) and Alexandra Zadravec (Fairfield, Conn.) finished fourth in their heat and will now race in the repechages. The duo was in third place going into the sprint, but caught a boat-stopping crab with 300 meters to go, allowing Sweden cross in third. Italy's Elena Coletti and Glade Colombo won the race in a 7:31.19.
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Graham Anderson (Weston, Conn.), Patrick Donohue (Malvern, Pa.), Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport, Conn.) and Alex Johnson (Seattle, Wash.) finished fifth in its heat and will now race in the repechages. The U.S. was in third place crossing the 500-meter mark, but gradually slipped back to fourth, and then fifth, in the third quarter of the race. The crew posted a time of 6:41.62 at the line. New Zealand led from the start to win in a 6:18.45.
Michael Evans (Portland, Ore.) and Wilson Valle (Miami, Fla.) finished sixth in the third heat of the men's pair. Evans and Valle clocked a 7:35.17 and will now race in the repechages. Turkey won the race in a 7:05.16.
In the men's four, Thacher Dodge (South Salem, N.Y.), Parker Lange (Darien, Conn.), Thomas Stolarski (Weston, Conn.) and Charles Campbell (Darien, Conn.) also finished sixth in the first heat. The U.S. crew got off the line in fourth place before dropping back to sixth in the second 500 meters. The crew clocked a 7:01.46. Romania won the race in a 6:26.11.
In total, 679 athletes in 216 crews from 50 nations are competing for world titles at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships. Racing continues Friday with repechages and quarterfinals. Saturday's racing features semifinals and finals in the men's four, women's four, women's pair and women's quadruple sculls. Sunday's racing features finals in the remaining nine events. For more information, roster and athlete bios, visit www.usrowing.org.