ROWING: Five U.S. Crews to Compete at Rowing World Cup in Munich

USRowing will have five boats racing at the first stop of the 2008 Rowing World Cup May 8-11 in Munich, Germany. The U.S. will have one entry in the women's single sculls, men's pair and women's double sculls, as well as two entries in the women's pair. Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.), who won the bronze medal in the women's single sculls at the 2007 World Championships in Munich, returns to Germany with her focus squarely set on qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. Guerette, who won the single at USRowing's National Selection Regatta (NSR) #1 in early April, can lock up her Olympic berth by finishing in the top six in Munich. Guerette will face off against 31 scullers including the other five finalists from last year's world championships-Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten, Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova, the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova, China's Xiuyun Zhang and New Zealand's Emma Twigg, as well as the always tough Sophie Balmary of France and Frida Svensson of Sweden. In total, 11 of the top 12 finishers from last year's world championships are entered in the event. With a top four finish in Munich, the men's pair of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) also would have the opportunity to be named to the Olympic Team. Both rowers were members of the men's eight that won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. The duo won the pair at NSR # 2, which was held April 25-27, and will now test its speed against international competition. The field includes 26 boats. The top returning pairs from last year's world championships entered in Munich are France's Laurent Cadot and Erwan Peron, who finished fourth, and Serbia's Nikola Stojic and Goran Jagar, who finished sixth. If the Volpenhein and Read do not finish in the top four or decide not to accept the nomination in order to focus on making the four or the eight, the men's pair would be opened up to the second set of U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Rowing scheduled for June 9-13. Coming off its victory at NSR #2, the women's double sculls tandem of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) will race in its first international competition. Tomek, who stroked the women's quadruple sculls last year, and Kalmoe, who won a gold medal in the four at the 2005 Under 23 World Championships, will compete against 20 doubles including three of the six finalists from last year's world championships. Defending world champions Liang Tian and Qin Li of China are scheduled to race, as are Romania's Simona Musat-Strimbeschi and Ioana Papuc and the Czech Republic's Gabriela Varekova and Jitka Antosova, who finished fourth and fifth last year, respectively. The U.S. has two of the 18 crews racing in the women's pair in Munich. Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) won the event at NSR #2, while Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) finished second. Lind, Francia and Goodale are all veterans of the U.S. squad, having won gold medals in the women's eight at the past two world championships, while Logan raced in the eight at the 2007 Under 23 World Championships. The U.S. crews will be tested by four of the top six finishers from last year's worlds including gold medalists Natallia Helakh and Yuliya Bichyk of Belarus and bronze medalists Viorica Susanu and Georgeta Damian-Andrunache from Romania. Racing begins Thursday, May 8, at 9 a.m. local time with heats. Finals will be held Sunday, May 11, beginning at 10 a.m. local time. Heat sheets and individual race times will be available on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 7, following the draw. In total, 840 athletes in 371 boats from 54 countries will compete in this season's first world cup regatta. This number includes 32 adaptive boats, which will race for the final qualifying spots for the first-ever rowing competition at the Paralympic Games. The U.S. has already qualified all four adaptive boats for this September's Paralympics. The Rowing World Cup series 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. This year, the three stages of the series will be held May 8-11 in Munich, May 30-June 1 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and 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, NIKE, Inc., and Rosetta Stone; 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-