As very nearly predicted here after the heats, leave it to the lightweight men's scullers to take a trial to a third final, and that is exactly what Dan Urevick-ackelsberg and Cody Lowry did in taking the second final with a confident and composed effort into a rainy headwind this morning on Mercer Lake.
Dan U-a (as he is known) and Lowry sneaked out to a slight lead before 500 gone, and from there the race was relatively closely contested, but the crew was able to accrue a gradually increasing advantage until, understroking the field going into the final 500 meters, they found themselves in a very comfortable position. Aller and Frase ratcheted up the rating, but were unable to do any damage, and by the finish line the contrast between the two crews was dramatic; today's winner very nearly cruised over the line, while yesterday's winner clearly showed the effort and disappointment of the reversal of fortune.
As they get ready for their fifth pre-dawn weigh-in and 2k race in as many days, it may be a bit of a war of attrition at this point for the light men; hopefully all four athletes are able to bring their best to Saturday morning's third and last final.
It was a very different story in the men's single and light women's double, as Ken Jurkowski rowed to another open water victory in the single, and Hykel and Goldsack did the same in the women's double. Both should have decent hope of nabbing the final few spots in the Olympics at the sudden death regatta in Poland next month; as noted previously in this space, Jurkowski will need to place top three, while the light women's and men's double will need to place top two.
Jurkowski burned this one up a bit more today; after taking the lead early, he appeared to want to test his speed over the course, gunning it pretty hard well into the last 500 meters. It was only in the final 10-12 strokes that he relented, choosing to cruise to the line safely to get the job done. "It was a good race, but there is still a lot of work to do," Jurkowski said following the race.
In the light women's double, Hykel and Goldsack very nearly rowed an identical race each of the past two days, winning by the same margin and leaving no doubt that they have much of the base work in place to go for the Games berth.
"We came in feeling confident," Hykel said. "We've had a great season training together so far. Jen and I click well, and we have a good dynamic. The conditions today were not ideal. There was a strong headwind and rain, but we were focused on keeping a steady rhythm."
"It was a solid race" Goldsack said. "We came to do the job, and that's what we accomplished. This is just the start of a really exciting summer."
Hykel and Goldsack will take a couple days off, then return to training to resume the run-up to the Qualifier in Poland on June 16-18. Along the way they are tentatively planning to race in the Lucerne World Cup as well.
"We definitely have some room to get better, and we want to step it up from here," Hykel said after the racing. A very promising start at the NSR two weeks ago ended with a somewhat disappointing race in the final, and the crew took their licks and got to work.
"We thought we underperformed in the final, but as a result we identified some things that needed work and learn from our mistakes" she said. "There were some really good crews in the race and they were really going for it, but in the end we were able to take some really positive feedback away from the race. This is all stuff we'll need for the racing ahead."
The challenges will be formidable; asked who they were going to be watching going into the Poland qualifier, Hykel rattled off a list of international legends worthy of an A final, not a qualifier, including the defending Olympic champ Dutch crew, the finalist Poles, Italy, a new Kiwi crew, and Romania, which will likely include three-time Olympic gold medalist Constanta Burcica, who raced in the open 2x a few weeks ago.
Goldsack and Hykel trained for a while in Goldsack's native Great Britain, and both have raced overseas (including Hykel at Lucerne and Goldsack in Poznan), so the crew is comfortable with a long training trip overseas. Hykel did mention that her exposure this year to the resources that are a routine part of the British system was a revelation. "With Jen coming from the British system where they have so much money (the British squad is funded by UK Lottery money), she has a lot of experience with training and testing, how to use lactate tests, etc., all the stuff that comes from rowing with a really well-funded team." As for culture clash rowing with the binational Goldsack, Hykel takes it in stride. "We get along really well - anything past 'awesome' versus 'brilliant' is pretty easy!"
Finally, as is almost always the case at Olympic trials, it was hard not to have the sense that at least a few very solid and medaled rowing careers were coming to a close right there in front of the half-dozen spectators standing under umbrellas or huddling inside rain gear. It's always tough to witness (let alone experience); well met and hail to everyone now looking beyond rowing after this morning.
The third and final race in the light men's double will be run tomorrow morning at 8am.
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