Both U.S. women's pairs advanced to Sunday's final to highlight the third day of racing at the 2008 Rowing World Cup stop in Munich, Germany.
Racing against each other in the second of two semifinals, the two U.S. women's pairs finished first and third, respectively, earning spots in Sunday's race for the medals. After getting off the line in second position, the USA1 entry of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) took over the top spot from The Netherlands in the second quarter of the race. Lind and Logan built their lead to just over two seconds with 500 meters to go before winning the race by 1.64 seconds.
With the top three finishers moving on to the final, the USA2 entry of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) sat in third place for the first 1,500 meters before Australia's Kim Crow and Sarah Cook momentarily took a lead. However, Goodale and Francia didn't give in, coming back to best the Australians by 0.84 seconds.
Lind and Logan won the race with a time of 8:04.93. The Netherlands' Annemiek De Haan and Sarah Siegelaar finished second in an 8:06.57, followed by Goodale and Francia in an 8:16.13. Australia finished fourth. The two U.S. crews and The Netherlands will take on China, Germany and Belarus in the final. China won the first semifinal in a time of 8:07.42.
The rest of the day for the U.S. was a series of near misses, with the three remaining boats finishing in fourth place and missing spots in the finals.
The women's double sculls tandem of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) finished fourth in its semifinal and will now race in Sunday's B final, which determines places 7-12. Tomek and Kalmoe got off the line well, sitting in second place after 500 meters. Although the Czech Republic passed them in the second quarter of the race, the duo continued to hold the third and last qualifying spot for the finals through the 1,500-meter mark. However, Great Britain put on a strong charge in the final leg of the race, and the U.S. boat was unable to match the British crew's move. Germany led the race from start to finish, clocking an 8:04.15. The Czech Republic finished second in an 8:06.10, followed by Great Britain in an 8:12.17. Tomek and Kalmoe finished in an 8:17.39.
In the men's pair, Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) also finished fourth behind Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic. The duo got off the line in sixth position but rowed its way into third place at the 1,000-meter mark. During the second half of the race, Volpenhein and Read battled the Czech Republic duo of Vaclac Chalupa and Jakub Makovicka for the third and last qualifying spot. However, the Czechs pulled away in the last 500 meters to advance to the final. Switzerland won the race in a time of 7:18.78. France finished second in a 7:20.55, followed by Chalupa and Makovicka in a 7:23.15. Volpenhein and Read clocked a 7:25.98. The U.S. will now race in tomorrow's B final for places 7-12.
In the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) also finished fourth and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. With the top three finishers advancing to the final, Guerette got off the line in fifth position and could never regain contact with the top three scullers. The Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova won the race with a time of 8:49.13. New Zealand's Emma Twigg finished second in an 8:55.05, followed by Italy's Gabriella Bascelli in an 8:57.72. Guerette finished fourth with a time of 9:12.20.
In total, 840 athletes in 371 boats from 54 countries are competing 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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