PLOVDIV, Bulgaria - In addition to the gold medals won by the women's four and pair Saturday, the United States won a fourth-consecutive gold medal in the women's eight and a silver medal in the men's eight on the Sunday to cap off the week at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
"There's no other feeling like this in the world," said women's eight coxswain Colette Lucas-Conwell (Palo Alto, Calif.), just before collecting her first under 23 gold medal.
The U.S. crew of Lucas-Conwell, Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo.), Georgia Ratcliff (Fall Church, Va.), Sarah Dougherty (Kent, Wash.), Lizzy Youngling (Westport, Conn.), Mia Croonquist (Vashon Island, Wash.), Alex Spaulding (Watervliet, Mich.), Erin Reelick (Brookfield, Conn. ) and Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) was down to Russia through the first half of the race, but made a decisive move at the 1,000-meter mark, taking one seat at a time to seal the victory.
"Off the start, we just wanted to be in the pack," said Lucas-Conwell. "We saw Russia-we were expecting Germany, but we'll take Russia. Around the 1k was our big move, and we just went. Everyone was so ready for it. We knew we had a good last 1k, that's our thing. It was unbelievable. When we saw we were that close to gold, everyone just bought into it and went."
The United States crossed the line in a 6:19.49 for a fourth-consecutive gold medal at the under 23 level, with Russia in 6:22.02 for silver, a first-ever medal in the event. Great Britain edged out Germany for the bronze with a time of 6:23.28.
Less than 24 hours before, Ratcliff and Eiffert won gold in the pair, while Dougherty, Youngling, Croonquist and Chase won gold in the four. For Chase, this marks four gold medals in her two years on the U.S. under 23 team.
"It's kind of surreal," said Chase. "I think half of us, since we raced Monday morning in the exhibition race, our legs are a little shot. But we knew we could do it. Russia gave us a run for our money in the first half of that race. They pushed us to be our best today."
The U.S. men's eight of Louis Lombardi (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Dara Alizadeh (Boston, Mass.), Hunter Leeming (Sarasota, Fla.), Justin Murphy (Montclair, N.J.), Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport, Conn.), Jordan Vanderstoep (Soquel, Calif.), Kaess Smit (Guadalajara, México), Greg Davis (Daly City, Calif.) and Finn Meeks (Lake Forest, Ill.) followed the eight with a podium-worthy performance of its own.
Germany led from the start, with the U.S. moving into second place 500 meters into the race and holding the silver-medal position across the line in a 5:36.49 to Germany's 5:33.56. Russia won the bronze medal in 5:38.32.
"The Germans are a very good team," said Lombardi, who coxed last year's crew to a bronze medal. "From the first stroke to the last stroke of the race, we left everything we could on that 2,000-meter race course. I'm proud of these guys. They're eight of the most excellent oarsmen in the U.S., and they did everything they know how to do."
For Smit, this is his third consecutive medal at the under 23 level. He won bronze in four in 2013, bronze in eight in 2014.
"I wish we had the gold, but it's motivation to keep working and stay hungry," he said. "We're all out here, and all we wanted to do was win. I love these guys, and it was a hell of a summer. I wouldn't be happier doing anything else."
The U.S. lightweight men's four of Ian Klein (Scarsdale, N.Y.), Samuel Ward (Winter Park, Fla.), Jacob Ford (Warrington, Pa.) and Marco Bustamante Nadeau (Thessalonkiki, Greece) finished sixth in the final, posting a time of 6:09.55. Italy won the gold in 5:57.36. Germany followed with silver in 6:00.58 and Great Britain in 6:01.52.
In the men's single sculls, Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla.) won the B final to finish in seventh place overall, the highest ever finish for a U.S. men's single sculler at the under 23 level. Davison led from the start, posting a 7:01.42 at the line.