Excited to report the first USA medal of the 2013 Worlds—a bronze for the LTAMix2x. What a race it was for that last coveted medal. The USA and South Korean crews battled down the last 200 meters as the crowd waited to see who would capture the bronze medal. As the crews crossed the finish line, the crowd had to wait a moment to see the result. Natalie McCarthy and Paul Hurley, of the USA took the medal by two-tenths of a second in their first world championship.
"I have been training for this for 8 years," said McCarthy, beaming. "Literally, I am living my dream right now; I'm on cloud nine!"
"I am so grateful," added Hurley, "we're very lucky to be here."
McCarthy is excitedly anticipating another year of hard work. "We're looking forward to the Netherlands in 2014. Nowhere to go but up!"
It's this reporter's first time at the World Championships, and so the first time at the medal ceremonies—wow. It's really a special thing to see athletes who have worked tremendously hard for years accomplishing their goals. The sounds of the national anthems, the tears and the unmatched joy, the complete and utter astonishment of the athletes at themselves for reaching the ever elusive and sometimes intangible target is an incredible thing to observe. From the ceremony of the women in traditional South Korean dress presenting the medals, to the athletes holding each other close for photos, the ceremony is an experience for the whole audience, whether or not their country is on the podium.
The A finals represent the first time an athlete can cross the finish line with excitement and relief. In the other rounds of racing, there is either sore disappointment, or pressure to perform in the next round. The level of racing in para-rowing has increased dramatically over the last ten years. The announcer commented that what are now the times in the B final were just a few years ago the winning times of the A final.
Rob Jones and Oksana Masters, the only two USA para-rowing Olympic medalists, and USRowing's 2012 male and female athlete of the year, put together an impressive race, but came up just short of medaling; indicating the increasing competition in the adaptive races. With London silver medalists, France and fifth-place Australian crews in the race; it was nothing short of an exciting race. Taking the gold, the Aussies took an early lead, but the real race was behind them; through 500-meter mark, the US, Ukrainian and French crews all battled for the silver and bronze. The French crew pulled into second leaving the bronze medal spot open, and it a mad dash, the Ukrainians medaled over Jones and Masters by a third of a second.
In the LTAMix4+, the GB crew got out an early lead on the field to capture the gold by 5 seconds. Following them were the Italians in second, Russia in third, and just out of the medals the USA crew of Coxswain Jenny Sichel, Andrew Johnson, Eric McDaniel, Kathy Byington, and Jaclyn Smith.
GB coxswain Oliver James kept a close eye on the competition at the start. "Italy always comes out with us; in a previous race this year they actually led us to halfway so we knew we'd have to fly off the blocks. At 500 we just pressed it off and moved away."
The ASM1x and ASW1x winners both set World Best Times as they crossed the finish line today. Erik Horrie of Australia and Natalia Bolshakova of Russia led their respective races with significant margins. As flags were raised and anthems played, these two athletes knew that they would not only be remembered for their win, but would be remembered each time someone rowed in these two events.
Morning Reps and Quarterfinals
The morning brought mixed results for the US boats hoping for a shot at the final.
In the LM1x, Andrew Campbell had a stellar start, getting out ahead of the field very early on and staying ahead for half the race, but by the 1500 he was passed. Pedro Fraga of Portugal, who won World Cups I and II this summer, overtook the young sculler to win the race; the two will be joined in the semifinal round by Bulgaria's Nedelcho Vasilev.
What the 21-year-old Campbell lacks in age, he makes up for in experience in his 7th world championship (Jr and U23 included). "With three days of racing in a row, it is important to stay focused on advancing while conserving energy. I executed a good race today, and I am looking forward to the semifinal tomorrow. I definitely don't feel like the "new guy" any more. I have medaled at this level before and know I can play ball with the best."
In a close race, the USA LM4- traded bowballs in the second thousand with the reigning Olympic champs, South Africa. Though they finished second, the US will be heading to the semifinals for a chance to duke it out for a spot in the final.
In what turned out to be one of the toughest races thus far, the first M1x quarterfinal pegged some of the best scullers in the world against each other. The field of scullers is so deep that even with the heat winners separated, four of scullers in this race the were 2013 World Cup finalists. Germany's Marcel Hacker, Azerbaijan's Aleksander Aleksandrov, and Bulgaria's Georgi Bozhilov raced past reigning Olympian champion Mahe Drysdale and the USA's Stephen Whelpley for the three coveted spots in the semifinal.
When you consider that the reigning Olympic champion, Mahe Drysdale is heading towards a C-level final, there's no question that this is not the "easy" Worlds that is often predicted in a post-Olympic year. Though there are lots of fresh faces, they are not diluting the field of competition. This is the largest Worlds to date with both a record number of athletes and countries; a great thing for the sport.
The USA LM4x of Andrew Quinn, Colin Ethridge, Dave Smith and Shane Madden raced hard, knowing it was their last opportunity at the A final. Sitting near even with the crew from Hong Kong for the majority of the race, the sprint was sharp and quick from both crews; Hong Kong defeated the USA by less than half a second.
The LM2- of Greg Flood and Frank Petrucci had a similar race to the quad. They led the pack in the first 500, fell back to Canada by the thousand, and couldn't quite hang on to Australia who passed them in the last 500 for the second spot in the final.
Benjamin Dann and John Graves, racing in the M2x had a solid rep, coming in third and putting them in tomorrow's semifinal.
In the last preliminary "race for lanes" of the regatta, the USA M2+ of coxswain Stephen Young, Matt Wheeler, and Rob Munn raced to a fourth place finish. They will race in the final on Friday afternoon
An offshore typhoon is expected to bring high winds, rain and thunderstorms to Chungju tomorrow, but starting on Friday the grandstands will fill up again as the rest of the finals begin.
Back tomorrow with reports from a stormy racecourse.
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