Jacob Plihal led start to finish to win the C Final today to finish 13th overall; we spoke to him after the racing .

row2k - Talk about joining the fraternity of male single scullers over the past couple of years and here today.

Jacob Plihal - That's one thing that's really special about the single is the fraternity and friendly rivalries. I got to race Lucas (Verthein Ferreira)from Brazil today, and we've got a bit of a friendly rivalry going from the Pan Am qualifier and Pan Am's last year. I think I come out with a three-to-two edge on him today, so that was a little bit of a motivator, plus trying to get that 13th after a disappointing quarter.

It was fun, and then we saw Bruno (Cetraro Berriolo) from Uruguay and got a little photo in front of the docks and the flags over there. It's just cool to have guys you have met and raced and are friends. Now there'll be some time to spend outside of rowing with all those guys and get to know them a little better. Maybe I can practice some Spanish for Bruno's sake.

row2k - And your path through the Pan Am's meant that all those guys were all here.

Jacob Plihal - The Pan Am's was really helpful for me for development. It gave me two opportunities between the qualifier and the actual Games to get three races down in Chile with somewhat of a full international field to understand the singles progression, which has been really helpful here. This is obviously not the result and final I was hoping to be in, but that experience and then a World Cup last year was really good for getting me primed to race the single at at this level, and I don't think I would have made it through the FOQPR if I had not had that experience.

row2k - Were you able to use those guys as a measuring stick for your progress and your speed.

Jacob Plihal - Yeah, it's been pretty tight with Lucas and I in the past, within a within a second or two in most of our races. I don't know what the margin fully was today, but to be able to have a bit of a statement race was great, and I think that's one of the best races I put together. It's my new singles PR, and I'm not quite sure but I think it might be an American record. I don't know about domestic races but I think it is internationally.

row2k - So it was a fast track out there today?

Jacob Plihal - It was pretty fast. It was a little bumpy, but we had really good conditions being a little bit earlier in the day, and the tail hadn't made the water too messy yet.

Question - Are you sticking around to watch the Games now?

Jacob Plihal - Yeah, I'll be here for the next week, so will hopefully go watch some other sports. Hopefully I can watch a little handball if that's still going, basketball is in a different village but maybe three by three. I don't know what the schedules are; I've been focused in on the racing but I'm excited to stick around and watch other sports and cheer team USA on, get to know some fellow athletes at the village, and hang out with guys like Bruno and Lucas, Dara (Alizadeh) the Bermudan sculler; they're all going to be the village.

row2k - What's next for you? Obviously, you've come very far in the single; do you keep going to LA, do you take some time off?

Jacob Plihal - Now's the time to take a little bit of a breather, so I'll spend the week here and then at the village, maybe another week in Europe, and then I'll head back home to the Seattle area to spend some time with my parents and friends and family. Then I think it'll be back to Vermont this fall.

Then I don't know what the schedule is going to look like, if I have to do the speed orders or anything, but I'll probably do some kind of event at the Head Of The Charles, and definitely would like to do the Lotman Challenge and maybe Gold Cup if they'd be kind enough to invite me for that. So yeah, I think I'd like to keep going, but definitely need to find a little bit balance and career development or education opportunities.

The growth that I've seen and that Steve and others have helped push forward has been great. This year especially and I think there's a lot more in the tank, and I'm passionate about keeping going, especially with seeing some progress and a really fast race time today. It shows me that I am capable of being in the mix, and that's pretty encouraging.

Full results from today's racing can be found here.