GIFU, Japan -Michelle Guerette won a bronze medal in the women's single sculls to highlight the U.S. performance on the first day of finals at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Gifu, Japan. In addition, the men's pair with coxswain won a bronze medal, while the adaptive trunk-arms double sculls won gold and the men's arms-only single sculls won bronze.
Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) won a bronze medal in her first championships as a single sculler. Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten won gold in a 7:48.35, while the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova finished second in a 7:51.59. Guerette clocked a 7:52.62. Guerette sat in third position for the first 750 meters of the race before overtaking Knapkova for second place as the scullers passed the 1,000-meter mark. However, Knapkova came back during the third 500 meters to regain the advantage for second. Guerette ended up finishing a half-boat length behind her at the finish. Karsten led from start to finish, winning by open water. Guerette's finish marked the first time the U.S. has won a medal in the event since 1988.
"I am so psyched," said Guerette after the race. "This whole racing week has been kind of a mystery. I didn't know what was going to happen. I was training for Lucerne and got injured, so I just stayed in Boston to cross-train and then get back on the water as soon as I could. I just wanted to race every race hard, improve on something each race and just take each race to the next level."
The men's pair with coxswain of coxswain Chase Phillips (Woodbridge, Va.), Micah Boyd (St. Paul, Minn.) and Jordan Smith (Forestville, Calif.) finished third in the final to win a bronze medal. Australia won the gold medal and Italy the silver. Australia took the lead off the start and was never challenged for the top position. Australia clocked a 7:16.61, with Italy 6.61 seconds behind. The U.S. finished 9.61 seconds back in a 7:26.22.
Scott Brown and Angela Madsen won their third consecutive gold medal in the adaptive trunk-arms double sculls. Madsen and Brown clocked a 5:03.28 to win by 250 meters. Italy finished second in a 6:52.59, followed by France in third.
Ron Harvey won a bronze medal in the men's arms-only single sculls. Harvey finished with a time of 7:08.00. Australia's Dominic Monypenny won the race in a 6:28.82, followed by Italy's Marco Re Calegari in a 6:31.99.
The men's four of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.), Dan Beery (Oaktown, Ind.) and Matt Deakin (San Francisco, Calif.) finished fifth in the final. Great Britain won the gold medal after clocking a 6:11.59. The Netherlands won the silver medal, with Canada bringing home the bronze. Great Britain jumped out to the early lead and held the top position all the way down the course. Likewise, the Dutch took control of the second position early on and never relinquished it. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:21.42.
Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) fell to sixth place in the final of the women's pair after challenging for a top two spot through the first 1,250 meters of the race. Australia got out to the early lead, with the U.S. in second position; and when the crews crossed the 750-meter mark, New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. were racing bow-ball to bow-ball at the front of the field. That's when New Zealand made its move, shooting out to a half-length lead at the midway point of the race. The U.S. continued to battle Australia for second through the 1,250-meter mark before dropping off the pace. New Zealand easily won the race in a 7:43.83 to claim the gold medal. Australia finished second and Russia came in third. Romania, Belarus and the U.S. rounded out the field. The Americans ended up clocking an 8:01.71
New Zealand dominated the first day of competition. In addition to its win in the women's pair, the country won gold in the men's single sculls, men's pair and women's double sculls. Other winners included Slovenia in the men's double sculls, Australia in the women's four, the Netherlands in the lightweight women's single sculls, Greece in the lightweight men's single sculls and Italy in the lightweight men's eight.
The U.S also had three crews racing in the B finals for places 7-12. The women's double sculls tandem of Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished second in its B final to place eighth overall. Norway won the race by clocking a time of 7:14.53, with the Americans coming home 3.04 seconds behind in a 7:17.57. The U.S. passed Belarus for second just as the two crews reached the 1,000-meter mark. The crew maintained its lead the rest of the way down the course, holding off a comeback attempt by Belarus in the final few strokes.
Lightweight women's single sculler Marika Page (San Rafael, Calif.) finished fourth in the B final of the lightweight women's double sculls for a 10th-place finish overall. Chrysi Biskitzi of Greece won the race with a time of 7:54.11. Page finished 5.84 seconds behind in a 7:59.95.
The men's double sculls tandem of Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and J. Sloan DuRoss (South Portland, Maine) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place overall finish. France won the race by clocking a 6:34.40, followed by Croatia and Poland. Stitt and DuRoss finished with a time of 6:37.94.
In total, the U.S. has 21 crews competing at the world championships. Racing concludes on Sunday with the second day of finals.
For a full schedule or results, please visit http://www.fisa.org/results/default.sps.