The USRowing Training Center/Bachelor's Barge Club tandem of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Cody Lowry (Bristow, Okla.) won the third final of the lightweight men's double sculls on Saturday at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J.
After finishing second in Thursday's first final, the duo came back to win Friday's second final to set up today's decisive race. Racing with a strong tailwind in the third final, Urevick-Ackelsberg and Lowry clocked a 6:33.80 to defeat the California Rowing Club/Potomac Boat Club duo of Michael Aller (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Gavin Frase (Orinda, Calif.) by more than 11 seconds.
"In the first final, we got caught napping. They clobbered us," Urevick-Ackelsberg said. "Then in the second final, we decided that we were going to get in the lead and keep it as long as we could. We tried to carry that over into the third final, knowing that it would be harder to make a move later in the race."
The duo was able to execute its race plan on Saturday. Urevick-Ackelsberg and Lowry held a small lead as the crews crossed the 1,000-meter mark. About 250 meters later, Aller and Frase took a bad stroke, forcing them come to a stop in order to recover. Aller and Frase were never able to get back in the race, finishing with a time of 6:45.26.
"We knew the conditions were going to be a little rough with a strong tailwind, and it wasn't going to be easy," Urevick-Ackelsberg said. "We tried to take advantage of the start and the first half of the race. At the 1,000 meter mark, we had about a boat-length lead when the other crew caught a crab. After that, it was sort of an anti-climatic finish."
Referred to as the non-qualified small boat trials, this week's winners in the men's single sculls, lightweight women's double sculls and lightweight men's double sculls took their first step towards making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. With the U.S. failing to qualify these three boat categories for the 2008 Olympic Games at last year's world championships, the winners of the trials will now compete at the 2008 Olympic Qualification Regatta scheduled for June 15-18 in Poznan, Poland, in order to qualify to race in Beijing. Qualification spots at that regatta are available to the top three finishers in the men's single sculls, top two finishers in the lightweight men's double sculls and top two finishers in the lightweight women's double sculls.
With the two-time Olympic champion Polish double racing in the event on home turf, they have their work cut out for them. "We've only been back together rowing for about two weeks, so there is definitely room for improvement," Urevick-Ackelsberg said. "It's not going to be an easy task in Poland."
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