The United States women's eight has been the gold medal standard in the event over the last decade.
The crew showed why that it is again on Monday at the 2015 World Rowing Championships by advancing directly to the Sunday final and posting the best time of the event on Lake Aiguebelette.
The stakes are high in the third world championships of an Olympic cycle. This is where a crew can qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and avoid the second-chance, qualification regatta in the spring. Only the top five crews in the eights can qualify in France this week.
And the women's USTC - Princeton crew of coxswain Katelin Snyder (Detroit, Mich.), Heidi Robbins (Hanover, N.H.), Tessa Gobbo (Chesterfield, N.H.), Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.), Emily Regan (Buffalo, N.Y.), Lauren Schmetterling (Moorestown, N.J.), Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) and Vicky Opitz (Middleton, Wis.) answered the call. Rowing in the second heat with two spots to qualify directly to the final, the U.S. was slightly behind The Netherlands for the opening meters, but then took over and finished first in 5:59.58. The Netherlands finished second in 6:02.12, and Great Britain was third in 6:03.72.
"I thought it was a really good first race for us," said Meghan Musnicki. "We executed our race plan. We knew that we had to go hard from the very first stroke because the field is deep and just gets deeper every year. There was no time to wait. We just had to go right from the start.
"We're looking forward to Sunday," she said. "Trying to find some more speed between now and then, and then take it out there on Sunday." If the U.S. wins Sunday, it will be the 10th-consecutive world title in the event.
In total, 14 U.S. crews to opened racing in their events Monday, and six advanced.
In addition to the women's eight, the advancing crews included the men's double sculls and the lightweight men's pair. In the Para rowing events, which began today, the U.S, advanced three crews, including the men's and women's arms and shoulders single sculls and the legs trunk and arms four with coxswain.
Eight crews were remanded to the second-chances races including the women's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, men's and women's quadruple sculls, men's pair with coxswain, men's eight and the trunk and arms mixed double sculls.
The first crew to qualify for the U.S. on Monday was the USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's pair of Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) and Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.). The U.S. was in third place through the first quarter, moved into second for five hundred meters, exchanging places with Spain, but finished in the third qualifying spot in 6:50.64. Italy won in 6:45.29. Spain was second in 6:48.45.
Qualifying next in the men's double sculls was Craftsbury Sculling Center's John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.). Graves and Dann pushed for their best possible start, hoping to test their speed and fitness.
They rowed in second for the majority of the race behind Germany, but were passed in the final 500 meters by Ukraine and finished third in 6:17.26. Germany won in 6:13.03 and Ukraine finished in 6:16.40.
"We definitely went out pretty hard, trying to blow out the pipes a little bit," said Dann. "I think we found ourselves digging a bit a hole, which is fun. It's great to do that, especially in these first races, to see how deep you can get in the well and just sit there for a while and get comfortable. So that's what we did," he said.
"I think with this progression, you get a few days of rest," said Graves. "I feel pretty confident that we know we can run with the other doubles and our bodies will adapt over the next couple of days."
At the start of the day, the composite men's pair with coxswain crew of Jacob Mendelson (Jacksonville, Fla.) of Vesper Boat Club, Erick Winstead (Fairfield, Conn.) of Penn Athletic Club and Taylor Brown (Winter Park, Fla.) of Vesper Boat Club rowed in the opening heat, but could not land one of the spots to move directly to the final. They rowed in fourth place the length of the race and finished in 7:11.57.
Germany won and qualified in 6:59.18. South Africa was second in 7:04.97. Serbia finished third in 7:10.90.
Rowing in the first of two heats in their event was the composite lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) of Cambridge Boat Club, Hugh McAdam (Grantham, N.H.) of Green Racing Project, Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.) of Malta Boat Club and Matt O'Leary (Westwood, Mass.) of Megunticook Rowing. With only two spots available to advance, the U.S. finished third in 6:00.39 and will have to row in the Wednesday repechage. Germany won in 5:54.55. Italy was second in 5:58.30.
Following them was the Riverside Boat Club lightweight women's quadruple sculls crew of Erin Roberts (Fogelsville, Pa.), Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.), Mary Foster (Sharon, Mass.) and Lauren Ayers (Portland, Maine). The U.S. missed qualifying, finishing third in 6:41.41. They will row in the Wednesday repechage. Germany won in 6:31.08. Australia was second in 6:34.70.
Also missing a direct advance to the final was the USTC - Princeton women's quadruple sculls crew of Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.), Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and Amanda Elmore (West Lafayette, Ind.). With only one spot to qualify, the U.S. finished second. Crossing the 500-meter mark, China was out front, Australia was in second and the U.S. was in fifth.
As the race progressed, the U.S. began to push and halfway through they moved into third and then into second with 500 meters to go, but Australia had taken the lead and could not be passed. Australia finished in 6:15.51, followed by the U.S. in 6:16.34. China was third in 6:19.22.
They row next in the Wednesday repechage.
Following them was the USTC - Oklahoma City women's double sculls crew of Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.). Again, there was only one slot open to move directly to the semifinal, and the U.S. finished third in 6:54.93. Greece led the length of the course and won in 6:50.65, followed in second by Belarus in 6:54.56.
Tomek and O'Leary row next in the Tuesday repechage.
Next to miss a qualification was the USTC - Oklahoma City lightweight men's four crew of William Daly (Vail, Colo.), Edward King (Ironton, Mo.), Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.). There was only one spot to advance and the U.S. finished third. The U.S. rowed in fourth place until the last 500 meters and then moved into third, finishing in 6:04.11. Denmark advanced in 5:57.51 and Italy was third in 6:01.43.
"We're doing all the right things for the most part," said Daly. "It was our first race this summer, first race as a crew. We feel like we're in a really good spot to keep going. Honestly, I was pretty excited just hearing the guys, hearing Anthony and Tyler calling out where we were, only two seats down to Italy going into the last 500 (meters.) I feel like we're really in a good spot to keep going, keep building."
The USTC - Princeton men's eight crew of coxswain Zach Vlahos (Piedmont, Calif.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Alex Karwoski (Hollis, N.H.), Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.), Matt Miller (Fairfax, Va.), Sam Dommer (Folsom, Calif.), Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) wrapped up the first part of the day's program and rowed to a third-place finish. Poland led through the first half of the 2,000-meter course, with Germany in second and the U.S. in third. Germany passed Poland in the second half and won in 5:29.53. Poland was second in 5:32.99 and the U.S. was third in 5:34.31.
They row again in the repechage on Wednesday in what will be a critical race. Like the women, only the top five in the eight can qualify for the Olympic Games.
"It was disappointing," said coach Luke McGee. "It wasn't what they've shown leading up to this. I'm sure they're disappointed as well. They didn't put their best foot forward. It's the heat, and like any contest, you get to make some adjustments afterwards. We'll try and do that and then come into the reps on Wednesday and see if they can have a better one."
Following a break in the program, the 1,000-meter Para rowing events began.
Advancing in the arms and shoulders women's single sculls was North Palm Beach Rowing Club's Jacqui Kapinowski (Tequesta, Florida). Norway's Birgit Skarstein took the lead and held it. Kapinowski rowed out of her lane in the opening strokes but recovered and moved into second, where she finished in 5:50:54. Skarsten finished first in 5:36.85 and South Africa's Sandra Khumalo was third in 5:53.04. Kapinowski will row in the Wednesday semifinals.
"I was overheating quite a bit and they asked me at the dock if I was OK," Kapinowski said. "I got very confused as to where I was, and I heard them yell 'USA' and I just tried to re-group and get myself together and got myself down the course."
In the men's arms and shoulders single sculls, Blake Haxton (Columbus, Ohio) advanced from his heat and moved to the Wednesday semifinal. Brazil's Rene Pereira got out in front in the first 500 meters, but Haxton caught and passed him to claim the single advancing slot in 4:50.26. Brazil was second in 4:54.14 and Daisuke Maeda of Japan was third in 5:30.96.
"It was kind of a different position from where I've been in the past," Haxton said. "In my better races, I've gone out quickly and tried to stay there. So this was a totally different feel. I hit my rhythm around three or four hundred (meters) and moved in front at the 500 and got some space."
In the trunk and arms mixed double the composite crew of Betsy Irwin Mitchell (Sarasota, Fla.) of Sarasota Adaptive Rowing Program and Scott Brown (Collingdale, Pa.) of Brooks Adaptive Rowing had a rough start with a missed stroke and finished fifth in 4:31.68. Brazil won in 4:00.03. France was second in 4:00.29 and Poland was third in 4:03.58. The U.S. will row in the Tuesday repechage.
In the final event of the day, the legs, trunk and arms four with coxswain the composite crew of coxswain Jenny Sichel (Clifton, N.J.) of Community Rowing Inc., Ricky Vandegrift (Cincinnati, Ohio) of CRI and Cincinnati Juniors, Zachary Burns (Ann Arbor. Mich.) of Skyline High School, Dani Hansen (Patterson, Calif.) of CRI and Jaclyn Smith (Williston Park, N.Y.) of Sacred Heart University took the lead early and just kept pushing the field away from them. The U.S. finished first in 3:21.87. France was second in 3:32.17, and Korea was third in 3:38.38.
"That went well," said Sichel. "We had a good start and a solid race. "It as a good beginning."