The United States had three boats advance to the semifinals on Friday at the 2008 Rowing World Cup stop in Munich, Germany. In total, the U.S. will have five boats racing in Saturday's semifinals.
In the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) finished second in her quarterfinal to advance to Saturday's semifinals. Guerette, a bronze medalist in the event at the 2007 FISA World Championships, clocked an 8:37.22 to finish behind Serbia's Iva Obradovic in the third of four quarterfinals. Guerette, who got off the line in third place, moved into second position during the second quarter of the race and held that spot the rest of the way down the course. Obradovic, who led at each of the 500-meter splits, finished with a time of 8:34.39. China's Xiuyun Zhang stroked an 8:38.17 to finish third, claiming the last spot in the semifinals. On Saturday, Guerette will take on scullers from the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Poland, Italy and China in the second of two semifinals. The top three finishers will advance to the final.
The USA2 entry of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) dominated the repechage, or second-chance race, of the women's pair. The duo got off the line quickly and built more than a four-second lead in the first 500-meters. The crew extended its lead as it crossed the midway point of the race before cruising to an easy victory. The Americans crossed the finish line in an 8:17.78. Denmark's Fie Graugaard and Lea Jakobsen finished second in an 8:21.65, followed by Italy, Great Britain and Germany. With the victory, Goodale and Francia joined the USA1 entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) in tomorrow's semifinals. The two U.S. boats will face off against each other in the second of two semifinals on Saturday. The crews will also take on Australia, The Netherlands, France and Italy, with the top three finishers moving on to the final.
Racing in the second of four repechages in the men's pair, Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) finished second to advance to Saturday's semifinals. The duo battled Great Britain's Thomas Burton and Tom Parker for first place the entire way down the course. The British crew grabbed an early lead in the first 500 meters before Volpenhein and Read came back to take a slight advantage at the midway point of the race. Burton and Parker regained the lead during the third 500 meters and went on to win by 1.12 seconds. With the top two finishers moving on to the semifinals, Great Britain won the race with a time of 7:28.27, while the U.S. crew clocked a 7:29.39 to take second. On Saturday, the Americans will race the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Germany and Serbia tomorrow in the second of two semifinals.
The women's double sculls tandem of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), which advanced directly to Saturday's semifinals by finishing second in its heat on Thursday, will take on crews from the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Poland, Germany and France in the first of two semifinals.
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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