Nine U.S. crews will race for medals on Saturday at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. The women's single sculls, lightweight women's single sculls, lightweight men's single sculls, women's four, lightweight men's eight, adaptive men's single sculls, adaptive women's single sculls, adaptive double sculls and adaptive four with coxswain will be looking to reach the medal stand on the first day of finals.
In the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) finished third in her semifinal to advance to the race for medals. She will take on scullers from China, Belarus, Bulgaria, New Zealand and the Czech Republic in the final. Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten is the two-time defending world champion, while the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova has won the silver medal the past two years. China's Xiuyun Zhang and Karsten won the two semifinals.
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, Surrey, United Kingdom) dominated in winning her semifinal, defeating two-time defending world champion Marit Van Eupen of The Netherlands by more than four seconds. Goldsack will race Van Eupen, as well as scullers from Canada, Croatia, Finland and Great Britain in the final. Canada's Melanie Kok won the other semifinal.
Lightweight men's single sculler Ivan Baldychev (Newark, Del.) finished second in his semifinal to advance to the final. Baldychev will race against scullers from New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Japan and The Netherlands in tomorrow's final. New Zealand's Duncan Grant and Germany's Jonathan Koch enter the race as the top seeds, having won the two semifinals.
With only six entries in the women's four, Megan Dirkmaat (San Jose, Calif.), Rachel Jeffers (Los Gatos, Calif.), Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) and Portia J. McGee (Seattle, Wash.) easily won its race for lanes on Tuesday and enter Saturday's final as the top seed. The crew will take on Australia, China, Germany, Italy and Great Britain in the race for the medals.
Like the women's four, the lightweight men's eight had only six entries. The crew of coxswain Leigh Heyman (Newton, Mass.), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), John Nichols (Palo Alto, Calif.), Andrew Diebold (North Wales, Pa.), Jeff Forrester (Mathews, Va.), Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Tyler Resch (Weyauwega, Wis.), Gavin Frase (Orinda, Calif.) and Tim Larson (North Augusta, S.C.) finished fifth in its race for lanes on Tuesday. The boat will take on crews from Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark and Poland in the final. Germany won the race for lanes to earn the top seed in the race.
The four adaptive boats will race for medals on Saturday as well. Adaptive men's single sculler Ron Harvey (Long Beach, Calif.) finished second behind defending champion Dominic Monypenny of Australia in his semifinal to advance to the final. Harvey will take on Monypenny, as well as scullers from Great Britain, Israel, France and Canada, in the final. Harvey is the defending world silver medalist.
In the legs-trunk-arms four with coxswain, Ryan Pawling (Jenkintown, Pa.), Jesse Karmazin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Jamie Dean (Pickerington, Ohio), Tracy Lee Tackett (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Aerial Gilbert (Tiburon, Calif.) finished second in their semifinal to advance to the final. The crew will face the two semifinal winners, Great Britain and Germany, as well as The Netherlands, Canada and Italy, in the race for medals.
Angela Madsen (Long Beach, Calif.) and Scott Brown (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), the four-time defending world champions in the event, finished third in their semifinal of the trunk-arms double sculls, qualifying for Saturday's final. The duo will take on Brazil, Australia, Poland, Italy and Ukraine in the final. Brazil and Australia won the two semifinals.
In the adaptive women's single sculls, Laura Schwanger (Harrisburg, Pa.) finished second in her repechage to earn a spot in the final. Schwanger will race scullers from Belarus, Brazil, Great Britain, Ukraine and Poland in the final. Belarus and Brazil won their heats and enter the race as the top seeds.
In addition, five U.S. crews will race in the B finals for places 7-12 on Saturday. This year, the B finals for Olympic-class boats take on more significance as the regatta serves as the primary country qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games, although it does not qualify individual athletes for the Games. For crews that do not qualify, a final qualification regatta will be held July 15-18, 2008, in Lucerne, Switzerland.
In the women's pair, Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and McGee, who is also racing in the women's four, finished fourth in their semifinal, missing a spot in the final by less than one second. In Saturday's B final, the duo will take on Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, The Netherlands and Russia. Canada, the defending world champions, also finished fourth in its semifinal. The top two crews will earn their countries a spot in next year's Olympics.
Like the women's pair, the men's four of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) narrowly missed advancing to the final, finishing fourth by less than half of a second. The crew will take on Germany, Australia, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Ireland in the B final. Germany comes into the race as the other top seed, having also finished fourth in its semifinal. The top five crews will earn their countries berths in the 2008 Olympics.
Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jen Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) finished fourth in their semifinal of the women's double sculls. The duo joins Australia, Norway, Italy, Korea and Hungary in the B final. Australia is the other fourth-place finisher from the semifinals. Like the women's pair, two crews will earn their countries the right to compete in Beijing.
The men's pair of Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) finished fifth in its semifinal. Larson and Read will face Canada, Denmark, Poland, Germany and Croatia in the B final. Canada and Denmark finished fourth in their semifinals and are the top seeds in the race. The top five finishers in the race will earn their countries berths in the 2008 Olympic Games.
In the men's double sculls, Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) finished sixth in their semifinal. Hughes and Stitt will take on Belgium, Australia, Croatia, Germany and Poland in the B final. Belgium and Australia enter the race as the top seeds, having finished fourth in the semifinals. The top five crews earn their countries berths at the Olympics.
The men's pair with coxswain of Dave Florio (Marlton, N.J.), Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Patrick Godfrey (Gorham, Maine) finished third its repechage, or second-chance race, and will now race in the B final. The duo will take on the Ukraine and the Czech Republic in the first race of the day. The men's pair with coxswain is a non-Olympic event, so there are no qualification spots up for bid in the race.
The eight-day regatta features 1,285 athletes racing in 474 crews from 68 nations.