Racing in their first international competition together, the women's pair of Caroline Lind and Elle Logan won a bronze medal on Sunday to highlight the final day of competition at the 2008 Rowing World Cup stop in Munich, Germany.
"It was a really solid race," said Lind of the final. "There were things that we were working to improve on from the previous races. The first 1,000 (meters) wasn't great, but we were able to get into a rhythm and have a solid finish."
Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) got off the line in fourth position but moved passed The Netherlands into third place during the second quarter of the race. The U.S. duo continued to walk away from the Dutch pair over the final 1,000 meters to secure the bronze medal, crossing the finish line in an 8:00.45.
China's Yulan Gao and You Wu won the gold medal in a 7:49.94, followed by Germany's Maren Derlien and Lenka Wech in a 7:56.62. The USA2 entry of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) finished sixth, clocking an 8:13.32.
"Winning the bronze was awesome," Lind said. "I told Elle after the race that we did a great job. It's the first step towards the larger goal. It was her first time on the medal stand and I said to her, 'let's just enjoy this.' We know what we need to work on. We know that we can execute better and be more efficient."
While Lind is a three-time senior national team member with two world championships' gold medals from the eight on her resume, Logan was racing in her first elite-level international event. Lind said the duo tried to stay focused on improving each race throughout the competition.
"We came in with nothing to lose," said Lind of the regatta as a whole. "It was really windy, and we knew the races would be long. We believed in our training and in ourselves and took each race as one more step. We tried to stay focused on some technical keys and stay relaxed."
In addition, three U.S. crews won their B finals on Sunday to finish in seventh-place overall.
In the B final of the women's single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) clocked an 8:05.89 to defeat France's Sophie Balmary by seven seconds. After getting off the line in second position behind China's Xiuyun Zhang, Guerette moved into first place during the second quarter of the race and was never challenged during the final 1,000 meters. Balmary crossed the finish line in an 8:12.89 to take second, while Zhang finished third in an 8:15:15.
Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) recorded a 4.67-second victory in the B final of the men's pair. Like Guerette, the duo got off the line in second position behind the Chinese boat but took the lead in the second quarter of the race. Volpenhein and Read slowly built their advantage over the final 1,000 meters, while Serbia came up to take second place. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:58.07, followed by Serbia in a 7:02.74 and China in a 7:03.25.
Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) led from start to finish in winning the B final of the women's double sculls. The duo held a one-second advantage at the 500-meter mark and led by 2.34 seconds at the midway point. Tomek and Kalmoe continued to pull away from Belarus during the second half of the race, winning by 3.38 seconds. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 7:32.46. Belarus finished second in a 7:35.84, followed by France.
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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