Women's Eight, Men's Pair with Coxswain Win Gold Sunday at the 2009 World Rowing Championships

POZNAN, Poland - Five U.S. crews won medals Sunday including gold in the women's eight and men's pair with coxswain on the final day of competition at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. In total, the U.S. took home seven medals.

Women's Eight: Gold

The U.S. women's eight won its fourth-consecutive world-champion title Sunday, dominating the final from start to finish. With five returning members of the 2008 Olympic eight on board, the crew of coxswain Katelin Snyder (Winter Park, Fla.), Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Laura Larsen-Strecker (Brookline, Mass.), Mara Allen (San Francisco, Calif.) and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) held off Romania to win gold in a 6:05.34.

"I just kept calling for a clean race and no crabs," said Snyder. "We didn't know we had it until the last five strokes, or maybe it was the last two."

After clocking the fastest time of the heats, the U.S. set the pace early in the final. First off the line, the U.S. crossed the halfway mark with a 1.82-second lead over Great Britain and continued to walk away from the field in the third 500 meters. The Lucerne gold-medalist crew from Romania was in fifth place for the first half of the race but moved into second position by the 1,500-meter mark. Romania continued to push in the sprint, but the U.S. held its ground, crossing 1.6 seconds ahead for gold. Romania clocked a 6:06.94 for the silver medal, with The Netherlands taking bronze in a 6:07.43.

"The goal was to go out and row as hard as we could," said Goodale. "We had lots of confidence going in, no matter what anybody else brought. We have a gutsy group of girls; I couldn't be more proud of them. This is a great beginning for the next quadrennial."

"They raced how I always hope to see American boats race," said women's coach Tom Terhaar. "This was a really tough field. They were aggressive and pushed back. That's the fastest they've raced this year. Having several Olympians back this year was key for the younger guys; they are positive people and set good examples. It was a team effort."

This was the second gold medal of the championships for Cafaro and Francia, who won the women's pair on Saturday. The duo returns from last year's Olympic gold-medal eight, along with Lind, Goodale and Shoop. Snyder, Larsen-Strecker and Glessner join the lineup from the eight that won gold at the 2008 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

Men's Pair with Coxswain: Gold

In the men's pair with coxswain, Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Troy Kepper (Tallahassee, Fla.) surged to the line to win gold in a 6:53.58. The U.S. crew nearly went out of its lane in the fist few strokes at the start of the race, but came back into second position by the 500-meter mark. The Czech Republic and the U.S., both heat-winners from earlier in the week, took turns leading through the middle of the course, never separated by more than a seat. The U.S. brought the stroke rate up and charged with 400 meters to go, crossing one second ahead of Czech Republic's Oldrich Hejdusek, Vaclav Chalupa, Jr. and Jakub Makovicka for the win. The Czechs finished in a 6:54.58 for the silver medal, with Germany taking bronze in a 6:55.44.

"The Czech crew raced well," said McElhenney, who coxed the men's eight to a bronze-medal finish at the 2008 Olympics. "Every time we tried to go, they were right with us. We couldn't shake them. We didn't have the best start, but we kept our composure. Henrik brought up the rate in the sprint and these guys brought on a whole other gear that I hadn't seen before. We shot out with 400 meters to go by about a foot, and that's when I knew."

Lightweight Men's Eight: Silver

The lightweight men's eight of coxswain Kerry Quinn (Havertown, Pa.), Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.), Andrew Diebold (North Wales, Pa.), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.), Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.), Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.), Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.), Matt Kochem (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) and Skip Dise (Beverly Hills, Mich.) took silver. After winning its heat Sunday to advance directly to the final, the U.S. boat was in fourth place at the 1,000-meter mark before making its move. Over the third 500 meters, the U.S. walked through Japan and The Netherlands into the second-place position before sprinting home for silver in a 5:37.15. Italy led the race from wire-to-wire, winning gold in a 5:33.92, with The Netherlands in a 5:39.69 for the bronze medal.

"It was a good race," said Quinn. "The conditions were tough; it was choppy at the start, but we stayed composed."

"We knew we had a lot of horsepower going for us, and we wanted the most powerful third 500 that we could," said Muffelman, the lone returning member of last year's world-champion crew. "This is pretty much everybody's first world championships. We're planning to continue training in Oklahoma City after this and hopefully, keep this group together for the next few years."

Women's Quadruple Sculls: Silver

The women's quadruple sculls crew of Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.), Sarah Trowbridge (Guilford, Conn.), Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) and Megan Walsh (Charlotte, N.C.) won silver, finishing in a 6:21.54. After winning its heat to advance directly to Sunday's final, the U.S. quartet crossed the 500-meter mark in fourth place and continued to walk through Russia and Germany by the halfway point. At the 1,250-meter mark, Ukraine led with three-quarters of a length on the U.S., and increased that distance in the sprint to win gold in a 6:18.41. Germany took bronze, finishing with a time of 6:24.27.

"We were untested going into this week and we had some strengths to play off of," said Carle, who won bronze in the Lucerne boat and silver in the four at the 2008 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships. "We raced internally and really put the blinders on."

Lightweight Women's Quadruple Sculls: Bronze

In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, the crew of Abby Broughton (Tetonia, Idaho), Stefanie Sydlik (Allentown, Pa.), Lindsey Hochman (Seattle, Wash.) and Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.) won bronze in a 6:36.88. In fourth place at the 1,000-meter mark, the U.S. boat edged ahead of third-place Canada with 750 meters to go. Canada responded, gaining back the third-place position by the 1,500-meter mark, but the U.S. charged in the final stretch to cross 0.54 seconds ahead for a podium finish. Germany took the lead from Great Britain at the halfway point, crossing the line first in a 6:32.91 for the gold medal. Great Britain clocked a 6:35.42 for silver. Canada finished fourth in a 6:37.36, with Poland close behind in a 6:37.83 for fifth.

"It all went by so fast," said Broughton, who finished fifth in the event at the 2006 World Championships. "After the race for lanes, we knew it was going to be anybody's game today. We had to row our own race."

"This feels pretty sweet," said Saeger. "I felt like we had a good shot coming in. This was the race that counted. It felt a whole lot better than the last one. We handled the conditions the best we could, tried to stay relaxed, and just go for it."

Lightweight Women's Single Sculls

After winning Friday's semifinal of the lightweight women's single sculls en route to the final, Meghan Sarbanis (Hampstead, N.H.) missed the bronze medal by 3.30 seconds. Sarbanis crossed the 500-meter mark in second place before taking the lead after the halfway point. The U.S. sculler continued to push, putting 0.49 seconds between her bow and that of Switzerland's Pamela Weisshaupt at the 1,500-meter mark. Sarbanis began to fade in the sprint, however, and was overtaken by the Swiss sculler, Italy and Denmark before crossing in a 7:40.72. Weisshaupt won gold in a 7:36.23, with Italy's Laura Milani silver in a 7:37.18 and Denmark's Juliane Rasmussen close behind in a 7:37.42 for bronze.

Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls

In the lightweight men's quadruple sculls, the crew of Sam Cunningham (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Dan Scholtz (Springfield, Ore.), Jon Winter (New Haven, Conn.) and Brian Tryon (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished sixth after advancing from a third-place finish in Wednesday's repechage. In the final, the U.S. boat was 1.77 seconds behind third-place Denmark at the 1,000-meter mark with France and Mexico also vying for the bronze medal. The U.S. edged ahead of Mexico over the second half of the course, but fell back in the final stretch, clocking a 5:59.65. Italy won gold in a 5:47.50, with Germany silver in a 5:49.89. Denmark held on for the bronze medal, crossing 0.14 seconds ahead of France in a 5:51.67. France clocked a 5:51.81 in fourth, followed by Mexico fifth in a 5:55.51.

For complete results, visit www.worldrowing.com.

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