The United States won three medals on Saturday at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. The women's four won gold, while Jen Goldsack won silver in the lightweight women's single sculls and Michelle Guerette won bronze in the women's single sculls.
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.) took control of the race during the second 1,000 meters and pulled away from the rest of the field for a 2.42-second victory. The crew trailed Germany through the first half of the race before making its move. The boat, which included three members of last year's bronze-medal winning four and a 2004 Olympic silver medalist from the eight, used its experience to power past the German boat in the third 500 meters. The U.S. clocked a 6:37.94 to win the gold medal. Germany brought home the silver, while Australia won the bronze medal. For McGee, it was her second race in two hours.
"It's been a long morning, but we train for this kind of thing, so it's not a total shock" said McGee, who raced in the B final of the women's pair earlier in the morning. "For me, part of it was just taking it one thing at a time. I think it was easier that (the two races) were close together. I didn't have to come down too far from the first one. I had a lot of adrenaline from (the pair). It went really well and was a lot of fun. In the (four), I didn't have to do anything - just match the rest of the boat and stay with the plan. It was a hard race but good. It made it more exciting."
"It was a well fought race," Jeffers said. "It took us a little time to find our rhythm. We took a 'breathe' call around the 500, and I think that really helped us, especially in the tailwind when it was easy to spin your wheels. I think we started to find our rhythm there."
In the lightweight women's single sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, Surrey, United Kingdom) brought home the silver medal, finishing second behind The Netherlands' Marit Van Eupen. Goldsack got off the line in first position, but unlike the heat and semifinal, Van Eupen did not let the American get away from her. The Dutch sculler responded with a strong move in the second quarter of the race to take a 0.61-second advantage over Goldsack at the 1,000-meter mark. Van Eupen continued to increase her advantage over the next 500 meters before going on to win the race by 1.57 seconds. Van Eupen clocked a 7:38.02 to win the gold medal for the third consecutive year. Goldsack finished second in a 7:39.59, while Canada's Melanie Kok won the bronze medal in a 7:45.24.
"It was a really good race," Goldsack said. "From a performance point of view, I'm really pleased. I was hoping to go out there and, obviously, get the gold (medal). I think I let Marit go a little bit too much in the middle 1,000-meters. I'm a strong lightweight, so I would have liked to challenge her a bit more there. Her experience and talent as a racer showed. Congratulations to her. To come back and win it three times in a row is a great achievement. I'm glad I at least pushed her."
Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) edged the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova at the finish line to win a bronze medal in the women's single sculls. Knapkova, a two-time world championships silver medalist in the event, led the race through the 1,500-meter mark, with Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten and Guerette following closely behind. As the scullers entered the final 500 meters, Karsten rowed through Knapkova, as did Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova, a two-time Olympic medalist in the single. Over the final 100 meters, Guerette continued to press Knapkova and passed her in the final few strokes. Karsten continued her dominance in the event by winning her seventh single sculls title since 1996, crossing the finish line in a 7:26.52. Neykova finished second in a 7:27.91, followed by Guerette in a 7:28.48. Knapkova finished fourth in a 7:28.67.
"I looked over and Mirka was right there," Guerette said of the final few strokes. "I knew I could lift more weight than she could, at least I thought I could, so I tried to do leg presses - just five massive cleans. I think that's how I got her, with a couple of power strokes, because I think she was coming back."
"It was higher than I've rated in the previous races. I kept telling myself, 'Be brave; be brave. You can keep it at a 34 (stroke rating),'" Guerette said of the race. "From 250 to 750, I planned to be aggressive, so I could stay with the rest of the group. I knew I could fight after that. At one point, I looked over and saw I had moved on Knapkova, and I just said to myself, 'Play with the big kids.' Karsten and Neykova, those two have been doing it forever, and it's an honor to be in a final like this. Everyone was fast; the new people were fast. I was excited to see that I can run with them."
The lightweight men's eight 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 final. The crew got off the line in sixth position and was never able to challenge for a medal spot, passing Poland in the final few strokes for fifth place. The Netherlands won the race in a 5:42.06, while Germany and Italy claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:51.97.
Lightweight men's single sculler Ivan Baldychev (Newark, Del.) finished sixth in the final. Baldychev got off the line in sixth position and could never challenge for a top three position and a spot on the medal stand. New Zealand's Duncan Grant won the race in a 6:53.89. Italy's Lorenzo Bertini took the silver medal, while The Netherlands' Jaap Schouten won the bronze. Baldychev finished with a time of 7:19.73.
Other gold-medal winners on Saturday included New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale in the men's single sculls, Belarus in the women's pair, Australia in the men's pair, China in the women's double sculls, Slovenia in the men's double sculls, New Zealand in the men's four and Poland in the men's pair with coxswain.
In addition, five U.S. crews raced in the B finals for places 7-12. 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 in Munich, a final qualification regatta will be held July 15-18, 2008, in Lucerne, Switzerland.
In the women's pair, Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia McGee, who won gold in the four later in the day, closed out a whirlwind week with a victory in the B final for a seventh-place finish overall. McGee replaced Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.), who had to drop out of the regatta for medical reasons, the day before the heat. The new duo missed reaching the final by less than one second, finishing fourth in their semifinal. In the B final, Mickelson and Cooke got off the line in third place but took second position behind Canada during the second quarter of the race. The pair continued to trail Canada going into the final 500 meters but put on a strong charge down the stretch to win by 1.27 seconds. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 7:11.89, while Canada clocked a 7:13.16. The victory guaranteed the U.S. an entry in the women's pair at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With only two crews qualifying their countries for next year's Games, Canada earned the other qualification spot.
Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jen Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) edged Australia by 0.07 seconds to finish second in the women's double sculls B final, earning the U.S. a berth in the event at next year's Olympics and an eighth-place finish overall. With only two crews earning qualification spots in the race, Italy, Australia and the U.S. quickly pulled away from the rest of the field and battled for the top two positions. Italy took the lead from the start and continued to hold that position the rest of the way down the course. Meanwhile, Australia held second place through the 1,500-meter mark. However, the U.S. boat made a strong push over the final 500 meters to defeat Australia in the final strokes. Italy held on to win by 0.40 seconds, clocking a 7:02.64. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:03.04.
Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) used a blistering last 250 meters to move from sixth position to second place in the B final of the men's pair, finishing in eighth place overall and earning the U.S. a spot in the event at next year's Olympics. The duo sat in sixth place through the 1,500-meter mark before clocking the fastest final 500-meter split to pass Germany and Croatia at the line for second place. Poland won the race in a time of 6:34.38, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:36.08. Germany and Croatia finished 0.24 seconds and 0.29 seconds behind the Americans, respectively. With five crews earning their countries berths in the Olympics, Denmark edged Canada for the final qualification spot.
The men's four of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) also finished second in the B final for an eighth-place finish overall. After getting off the line in third position, the quartet moved into second place as the crews went through the 1,000-meter mark. The U.S. was able to hold off a hard-charging German crew in the final few strokes to finish second. The Czech Republic led the race from start to finish, crossing the line in a 5:59.25. The U.S. finished 1.01 seconds back in a 6:00.26. With a top five finish, the crew earned the U.S. an entry in the men's four at next year's Olympics.
In the B final of the men's double sculls, Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) led for much of the race before dropping to third place for a ninth-place finish overall. Hughes and Stitt got off the line quickly, building a one-second lead at the 500-meter mark. The duo continued to lead Germany and Croatia as the crews passed through the midway point of the race. However, Croatia was able to overtake the U.S. in the second half of the row and went on to win the race with a time of 6:19.86. Australia edged the U.S. by 0.02 seconds at the line, finishing with a time of 6:21.51. The Americans clocked a 6:21.53. By finishing in the top five, Hughes and Stitt guaranteed the U.S. an entry in the men's double sculls in Beijing.
The men's pair with coxswain of Dave Florio (Marlton, N.J.), Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Patrick Godfrey (Gorham, Maine) won the B final to finish in seventh place overall. After sitting in second place at the 500-meter mark, the crew took over the top spot in the second 500 meters. While the Czech Republic came back to close the gap in the third quarter of the race, the U.S. boat pulled away in the final 500 meters to win the race with a time of 7:12.58. The Czech Republic finished second in a 7:16.76. The men's pair with coxswain is a non-Olympic event, so there were no Olympic qualification spots up for bid in the race.
In the adaptive events, men's single sculler Ron Harvey (Long Beach, Calif.) finished fifth in the final. Harvey sat in fourth position through the 500-meter mark but was unable to challenge for a top three spot over the second half of the race. Great Britain won the race with a time of 5:13.13. Australia finished second in a 5:14.72, followed by Israel in a 5:15.04.
In the trunk-arms double sculls, Angela Madsen (Long Beach, Calif.) and Scott Brown (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), the four-time defending world champions in the event, finished fifth. Brazil won the race in a 4:10.69, with Australia and Poland taking the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Madsen and Brown finished with a time of 4:26.19.
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.) also finished fifth. The crew sat in second place at the midway point of the race but could not hold on for a medal in the final 500 meters. Germany won the race in a 3:34.99, with Great Britain and Canada taking the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The U.S. finished with a time of 3:38.93.
In the adaptive women's single sculls, Laura Schwanger (Harrisburg, Pa.) finished sixth in the final. Schwanger sat in fifth position for much of the race before dropping to sixth place in the final 100 meters. Brazil won the race in a 5:57.58, with Belarus finishing less than one second behind in a 5:58.57. Poland won the bronze medal.
The eight-day regatta features 1,285 athletes racing in 474 crews from 68 nations.