Racing in the first of six heats of the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) won the race with a time of 8:29.18, defeating Italy's Gabriella Bascelli by 4.24 seconds. Guerette, who won a bronze medal in the event at the 2007 World Championships, got off to a strong start, building a two-second lead in the first 1,000 meters. While Bascelli challenged the American in the third quarter of the race, Guerette pulled away during the final 500 meters to claim the victory. With the top three finishers moving on to the quarterfinals, Belgium's Annick De Decker joined the top two finishers in advancing. On Friday, Guerette will take on scullers from Brazil, Spain, China, Serbia and Great Britain in the third of four quarterfinals, with the top three finishers moving on to Saturday's semifinals.
Competing in the fourth of four heats of the women's double sculls, Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) finished in second place to advance directly to Saturday's semifinals. The duo jumped out to the early lead in the opening 500 meters before China's Ziwei Jin and Bin Tang moved into first place just before the midway point of the race. But with the top two finishers advancing directly to the semifinals, the Chinese and American crews pulled away from the rest of the field during the middle 1,000 meters to easily move on to the semis. China crossed the finish line with a time of 7:28.90, followed by Tomek and Kalmoe in a 7:36.93. Great Britain's Sarah Winckless and Elise Laverick finished third in a 7:40.92.
Racing in the third heat of the women's pair, the USA1 entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) also advanced to Saturday's semifinals by finishing second behind China's Yulan Gao and You Wu. Lind and Logan sat in second position the entire way down the course, clocking an 8:01.60. Gao and Wu crossed the finish line with a time of 7:47.55. China's second boat of Yugin Zhao and Yanfeng Yan finished third to also advance to the semifinals.
In the second heat of the women's pair, the USA2 entry of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) clocked a time of 8:15.39 to finish fourth and will now race in Friday's repechage, or second-chance race, for the opportunity to move on to the semifinals. Goodale and Francia got off the line solidly, sitting in second place at the 500-meter mark and in third at the midway point of the race. However, France was able to pull away from the U.S. boat in the final 1,000 meters to claim third place. The Netherlands' Annemiek De Haan and Sarah Siegelaar won the race in an 8:06.05, followed by Belarus' Natallia Helakh and Yuliya Bichyk, the defending world champions, in an 8:10.73. France clocked an 8:11.57. Goodale and Francia will take on crews from Germany, Denmark, Great Britain and Italy in tomorrow's repechage, with the top three finishers moving on to the semifinals.
Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) finished third in their heat of the men's pair and will now race in the repechages on Friday. Racing in the second of four heats, the duo got off the line quickly and led at the 500-meter mark. With only the winner advancing directly to the semifinals, however, Switzerland's Stefan Sax and Florian Stofer made a strong move in the second quarter of the race to gain a 3.32-second advantage, pulling away from the rest of the field. Switzerland won the race with a time of 7:06.44. The Czech Republic's Vaclav Chalupa, Jr. and Jakub Makovicka finished second in a 7:16.89, followed by Volpenhein and Read in a 7:19.62. The U.S. duo will face crews from Slovenia, Ireland, Great Britain and South Africa in the second of four repechages on Friday. The top two finishers will move on to the semifinals.
Racing continues on Friday beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time with repechages. Semifinals will be held Saturday, with finals being held Sunday.
In total, 840 athletes in 371 boats from 54 countries are scheduled to compete in this season's first world cup regatta. The event will be televised and streamed live through World Rowing's partner Web site, www.wcsn.com. In addition, live race tracker and live audio streaming of the race commentary will be available throughout the whole regatta on www.worldrowing.com.
The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. This year, the three stages of the series will be held May 8-11 in Munich, May 30-June 1 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and June 20-22 in Poznan, Poland.
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