ROWING: Nine U.S. Crews Advance at Rowing World Cup in Lucerne

Nine United States crews advanced on Friday during the first day of racing at the 2008 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. The men's quadruple sculls and women's eight crews advanced directly to Sunday's finals, while seven boats will be in action on Saturday in the semifinals. With only six entries in the event, the women's quadruple sculls will also race in Sunday's final after racing in a seeding heat today. With only the heat winners advancing directly to Sunday's final in the men's quadruple sculls, the U.S. crew of Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Jamie Schroeder (Wilmette, Ill.), Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) and Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) did just that by winning the first of two heats by 4.45 seconds. The quartet trailed France for the first half of the race before making a strong move just after the 1,000-meter mark. The Americans took a slight advantage with 500 meters to go and pulled away from the French crew in the final leg of the race. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:43.00, followed by France in a 5:47.45. Poland won the other heat to earn the other spot in the final, finishing with a time of 5:46.99. The women's eight of coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Rachel Jeffers (Los Gatos, Calif.), Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) also won its heat to advance directly to Sunday's final. The crew sat in second position through the midway point of the race before passing Germany in the third 500 meters. The U.S. continued to pull away from the rest of the field in the final quarter of the race, defeating Canada by 2.30 seconds. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:00.78, followed by Canada in a 6:03.08. Germany dropped to third. Australia easily won the other heat, clocking a 6:04.45 to defeat Great Britain by nearly six seconds. Both U.S. women's pairs won their heats on Friday to advance to Saturday's semifinals. Racing in the first of three heats, the USA #2 pair of Anna (Mickelson) Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia McGee (Seattle, Wash.) took the lead in the second quarter of the race and rowed to a 2.88-second victory over Australia's Sarah Cook and Kim Crow. Cummins and McGee clocked a 7:08.39 to Australia's 7:11.27. In the third heat, Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), who won the bronze medal at this season's first world cup race in Munich, Germany, defeated New Zealand's Nicola Coles and Juliette Haigh by 2.59 seconds. Lind and Logan also moved into the top position in the second quarter of the race, finishing with a time of 7:11.05. New Zealand crossed the line in a 7:13.64. China's Yulan Gao and You Wu recorded the fastest time of the morning, winning the second heat in a 7:04.43. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. The two U.S. women's double sculls crews finished second in their heats, advancing directly to Saturday's semifinals. Racing in the first of three heats, the USA #1 entry of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) finished second behind the defending world champions from China, Liang Tian and Quin Li. Tian and Li led the race from start to finish, clocking a 6:55.09. Tomek and Kalmoe held second position the entire way down the course, finishing with a time of 6:58.96. In the third heat, the USA #3 entry of Jen Goldsack (Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.), who will represent the U.S. in the lightweight double sculls at the Olympic Qualification Regatta this June in Poznan, Poland, finished second by just 0.27 seconds behind China's second boat of Yangyang Zhang and Weiwei Zhu. In what was a three-way race for first place, China crossed the line in a 6:55.87, followed by the U.S. in a 6:56.14 and Great Britain in a 6:56.25. Germany's Christiane Huth and Annekatrin Thiele won the second heat in a 6:59.79. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. After leading for much of its race, the men's four of Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) finished second in its heat but still advanced to Saturday's semifinals. Racing in the third of three heats, the crew got off the line well and took the lead from Australia in the second quarter of the race. The U.S. crew continued to lead by a little more than one second heading into the final 500 meters, but Australia was able to edge past the American crew in the final few strokes to win the race by 0.09 seconds. Australia finished with a time of 5:54.83, followed by the U.S. in a 5:54.92. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. In the lightweight men's four, Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Mike Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.) finished third in their heat to advance to Saturday's semifinals. After getting off the line in fifth position, the American boat moved into third place during the second quarter of the race before pulling away from Poland in the final 500 meters to earn a spot in the semifinals. China won the race, finishing with a time of 6:01.29. Ireland finished second in a 6:02.67, followed by the U.S. in a 6:07.97. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. After finishing fourth in his morning heat, men's single sculler Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.) came back to finish second in his afternoon repechage, or second-chance race, to earn a spot in the semifinals. With the top two finishers from each repechage advancing to the semifinals, Jurkowski edged out Belgium's Bart Poelvoorde by 0.20 seconds to advance. After getting off the line in third position, Jurkowski held the second spot going into the final 500 meters. Poelvoorde took a slight lead, however, coming down the stretch, but Jurkowski was able to regain the advantage at the line. Argentina's Santiago Fernandez won the race in a 6:55.62. In his morning heats, Jurkowski finished fourth in a 7:06.05 behind scullers from the Czech Republic, Germany and China. With Canada dropping out of the competition in the women's quadruple sculls following yesterday's lane draw, the field dropped to six boats and a final only. On Friday, the six quads rowed a seeding race for lanes. The U.S. boat of Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.), Lindsay Meyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Lia Pernell (Seattle, Wash.) finished fourth in the race for lanes, clocking a 6:23.37 to finish behind China, Great Britain and Germany. China won the race with a time of 6:18.20. Racing continues on Saturday with semifinals and the remaining repechages. Finals will be held Sunday. Complete results are available on www.worldrowing.com. In total, more than 580 athletes in 234 boats from 38 countries are competing in Lucerne. Sunday's finals will be televised and streamed live through World Rowing's partner Web site, www.wcsn.com. In addition, live race tracker and live audio streaming of the race commentary will be available throughout the whole regatta on www.worldrowing.com. The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. The first regatta was held May 8-11 in Munich, Germany, while the third regatta will be held June 20-22 in Poznan, Poland. USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing's Official Sponsor is Johnson and Johnson; its Official Suppliers are Hudson Boat Works and NIKE, Inc.; its Official Patron is Concept2; its Official Electronics Outfitter is Nielsen Kellerman; its Official Timer is Powerhouse Timing; its Official Registrar is RegattaCentral; and its Preferred Printer is Sport Graphics Printing. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation. -30-

Tags: Anna Goodale, Brett Newlin, Brett Sickler, Caroline Lind, Caryn Davies, Giuseppe Lanzone, Ken Jurkowski, Lindsay Shoop, Margot Shumway, Mary Whipple, Renee Hykel, Susan Francia, Tom Paradiso