There wasn't much the guys in the US men's eight really wanted to say after the opening heat in the first World Championships of the new Olympic cycle.
Their coach, Mike Teti, has been on this stage enough times to know that a young team in the spotlight really doesn't need to have chest-thumping quotes in the media, comments that can come back to haunt them. And it seemed that he had conveyed that message.
Even after finishing second to the Germans with the second fastest time of the two men's eight heats, the comments being made by the crew were appropriately reserved and centered mostly on getting better for the next race.
"It's a great group of guys," said Dariush Aghai. "We felt absolutely awesome going through it. We have to get a little faster next time."
Fair enough. The men's team has had enough of a spotlight on it since last summer when it came home from Rio without a medal, and since Teti was hired to help bring new athletes into the training center and breathe new life into the men's program.
It's a young team for the most part. All of the US training center crews are, men and women. And they are both run by experienced coaches who believe that being reserved, or not talking to the media, is the safest bet while the racing is still in progress and finals have not been reached.
The US women's eight, a crew that has not lost a World Championship or Olympic final in 11 years, and has won three consecutive Olympic gold medals along the way, also finished second in their heat and will have to survive a trip through the reps to reach the final.
It's always been women's coach Tom Terhaar's policy to have his crews reserve any comments to the media until they reach the final. And that was the case Tuesday. After finishing second to New Zealand, they will need to row the rep on Thursday, the same day as the men. And they reserved the right not talk to the media following their race.
The women's eight has not had to go through a rep to reach a World Championship final for a long time, but they had a solid performance overall, as did much of the US team that raced on the third day of the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL.
The lightweight men's pair, and the women's quad reached the finals through their reps. The men's pair and four advanced to the semis.
The men's quad, lightweight men's and women's quads, and lightweight men's double all missed qualifying for the A/B semifinal in their events. In the para events, Hallie Smith advanced into the Sunday final from her arms and shoulders single heat. Men's single sculler Blake Haxton did not, and will row in the reps.
Women's Eight
It was another scorching day of racing in Sarasota. The bright morning sun and heat index just kept climbing all the way to the last events, the men's and women's eights.
The US women raced in the first of the two heats. Off the line, they fell into third but climbed into second and were pushing for the New Zealand women, who were in front of them down the entire course. The US finished comfortably in front of Great Britain and Russia, but second to the Kiwis.
In the next heat, the Romanian women won and claimed the direct route into the final.
Men's Eight
The men raced next. Over the course of the third 500, the US fell into second place behind winner Germany where they stayed until the finish line.
"I think it was a good first step," Teti said. "I mean, it was a hard race and it appears that they had a pretty good piece. I think the Germans are really good. So is Romania. You just try to have a good first piece and then each race after, you've got to get a little better. They didn't go slow. I'll ask them later to see what they thought. We definitely have to improve on some things," he said.
Yohaan Rigogne is not only new to the crew, he is new to the event. He has rowed at a World Championships in a single and a pair, but in 20 years of rowing, Tuesday was his first eights race. He was a bit more enthusiastic in his responses to questions about the race.
"It was more fun than the single. I loved it. I want more," Rigogne said. "We tried to make a big impression. We were in the group right away from the start and we tried to take off at the thousand and stick with the Germans. We had a good race and we have to try to do better. And we'll do OK."
Jordan Vanderstoep is not new to eights racing, but he is racing in his first senior worlds. "I thought it was good. We're a pretty new crew and we haven't gotten any races under our belt and I think that was a good place to start. No matter when you end up racing, you have a lot of time in between so it was a good start to the week."
Men's Pair
Anders Weiss and Michael Colella felt that they had spent a little too much energy in the first half of their heat on Sunday. When they went to the line in the rep Tuesday, they had a different plan and it paid off with a spot in the semifinal. They raced in third the length of the course, behind Serbia and Spain.
Argentina trailed in fourth, but going into the final 250-meters, they sprinted to try and catch Weiss and Colella, who saw it coming and responded.
"We sort of changed our race plan from the heat," Weiss said. "We took it a little bit more conservative off the start so we could have a better second half. We were disappointed in our second half in the heat. So, we reworked our race plan a little bit, and I think we held speed or maintained speed in the second half and then had a kick in the end.
"I saw the lead we had at 1k in, and I said 'we have to hold this,'" he said. "Argentina made an incredible push, so we kicked it into gear and managed to hold them off."
Men's Four
Ben Delaney, Alex Richards, Bobby Moffitt, and Ben Ruble also needed a solid performance in the rep after finishing fifth in their heat on Sunday and missing out on a qualifying position. They came back today and locked up a spot in the semifinal.
"We had a much better race than we did in the heat on Sunday," said Moffitt. We tried to improve and have a better performance and we did and now we're just looking forward to the semifinal.
"We were a little down off the start, but we got into a pretty good rhythm and we were able to stay composed throughout the thousand and then we were able to walk through crews and into a qualifying position."
Women's Quad
In their Sunday heat, the women's quad lost in a photo finish to the British. Tuesday, they finished the job and advanced into the final with a convincing win. "It felt good to advance," said Elizabeth Sonshine. "We stayed calm through the first five hundred and then we held through to the finish. It was a strong run down the course and I'm excited for the final."
Note From The Course
Like the rest of the US team, Hallie Smith raced in front a family and friends in Sarasota yesterday. But Smith had a special treat. Her brother Tom is a Navy fighter pilot who will be deploying to the Middle East in a week. He was in the stands Tuesday to see Hallie finish second in her first Para rowing racing. Row2k wishes Tom good luck. Be safe and thank you for your service to our country!
Lots of kids have gotten the chance to stop by the sand sculpture exhibit on the course this week and participated in a clinic.
The tropical avian life in Sarasota is pretty good; situated as it is an hour or so north of the beginning of the Everglades, it isn't a surprise. Check out these regatta spectators:
Samoan sculler Danial Marquardt is coached by US Olympian and Potomac coach Sam Stitt; Samoa's three-letter designation is SAM; it's not always that your country's name is the same as your coach.
Nils Jakob Hoff screen-grabbed a Rocky from yesterday's feed; if you want to check it for yourself, try Race 56, the first heat of the women's single yesterday.
Finally, starting boots! 1 | 2 | 3
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