The U.S. men’s four won its heat to advance directly to Thursday’s final, while two other crews moved onto the semifinals on Sunday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Racing in the second of two heats, the men’s four of Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club), and Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club) took the lead off the opening strokes and held nearly a one-second advantage over Australia 500 meters into the race. The U.S. continued to power away from the field during the middle 1,000 meters, taking an open-water lead over the Aussie crew as the boats entered the final sprint. The American boat cruised to the finish, winning by just under a length in a 6:04.95. Australia finished second, claiming the other spot in the final in a 6:06.84.
“It felt solid,” Best said. “It was exciting. We’ve been building up a lot of excitement to get out there and race again. We had a lot of good momentum coming from World Cup II, and we all kind of knew, ‘Let’s get back to the work. There’s still the Olympics to get ready for.’ I think over the last few weeks we were at a training camp in Italy, and we were really excited to let it rip (down) the course. Coming through the last 250 (meters), that was incredible hearing all the audience. That was a first time for me to hear something that loud doing the sport I love.”
“One unique thing about this lineup and this crew is we’ve been together so long relative to other American crews in the past,” Mead said. “We have a ton of confidence in each other. We’ve been rowing together for about a year and training together for five or six years, so it’s a huge advantage when we come to these races knowing I don’t have to worry about what the guys in front of me are going to do. I know that they are going to execute the plan like we’ve talked about and that brings a relaxation and freedom to the race that in the past we’ve not had.”
In the lightweight women’s double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/Cambridge Boat Club) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) finished second in the second of three heats to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals. With two to advance, Romania’s Ionela Livia Cozmiuc and Gianina Elena van Groningen jumped out to the early lead ahead of the U.S. crew and the Peruvians. In the second quarter of the race, Romania continued to extend its advantage while the U.S. pulled away from Peru to solidify the second qualification spot. At the line, Romania crossed in a 7:03.83, with the U.S. clocking a 7:12.65.
“Whether we advanced out of the heat or went to the rep, it would have been the best possible scenario because that’s the mindset that we come into this with,” Sechser said. “Not the margins that we were hoping to see for our first race out of the blocks, but every race is so different, and we’re excited to get some time to sit down as a crew tonight and see where we’re going to make some adjustments for the semifinal.”
“We’ve never raced with so many fans before, so that is both exciting and a fun new challenge,” Reckford said. “We had talked about this, but those grandstands are only going to get louder, so it’s going to be harder and harder for Michelle to hear me and even harder for me to hear her, and that’s something that we’re just going to figure out.”
Racing in the first heat of the women’s pair, Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) advanced to the semifinals thanks to a third-place finish. With three to advance, the U.S. duo settled into third position in the first 500 meters, sitting a length ahead of fourth-place Denmark. Thoennes and Czajkowski continued to pull away from Denmark over the middle 1,000 meters to comfortably secure their qualifying spot.
“Both of us were really excited to get this opportunity (to race),” Thoennes said. “We worked really hard for it. We know how incredibly good this field is, so today was just fun – just rip it off and let’s see.”
The Netherlands’ Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering, the defending world champions, rowed away from Lithuania’s Leva Adomaviciute and Kamile Kralikaite over the second half of the race to earn an easy victory, crossing the line in a 7:17.81. The Lithuanians finished second in a 7:22.53, with the U.S. crossing in third in a 7:25.52. The U.S. now will race in the semifinals on Wednesday.
“The workouts at pace leading up to this are what we look forward to the most, so it’s so nice to just be racing other crews instead of the clock,” Czajkowski said. “This was a really good first shot, and we have more to go, so excited to race again.”
The women’s four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) finished fourth in the first heat and will now race in Tuesday’s repechage. The crew sat in fourth position the entire way down the course. China led off the start before New Zealand took over the top spot at the midway point, just ahead of Great Britain. The British crew then powered into the lead in the third 500 meters and rowed to nearly a three-second victory. Great Britain finished with a time of 6:42.57, with New Zealand claiming the second spot in the final in a 6:45.44. The U.S. finished third in a 6:49.66, just behind China. The U.S. will take on Denmark, Ireland, China, and Australia in the repechage, with the top two finishers advancing to the race for the medals and the remaining crews heading to the B final for overall places 7-9.
“It was exciting to get our first Olympic race,” Knifton said. “Now, we’re really excited moving forward just to keep improving and see the potential of our boat.”
“This four has been through a bucket, a lineup switch with our ports. We’ve tried a bunch of different things to see what feels best and this lineup has always felt very natural,” Reelick said. “It’s been really fun, and I do feel like we’re a still a new crew, so we’re learning every week, a small epiphany of some sort, but I think we have the things that it takes to put together a good race.”
In the first heat of the men’s pair, Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and Billy Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) finished fifth and will race in Monday’s repechage for a second chance to move on to the semifinals. Bub and Bender got off the line in fifth and were never able to challenge the top four crews, who battled it out in a photo finish for the three qualifying spots. Spain’s Javier Garcia Ordonez and Jaime Canalejo Pazos edged out New Zealand’s Phillip Wilson and Daniel Williamson to win the race in a 6:32.28. Ireland’s Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney took third ahead of Switzerland’s Andrin Gulich and Roman Roeoesli, the defending world champions, to grab the last qualifying spot in the semifinals. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:02.62 and will take on Australia, Switzerland, and Italy in the repechage.
“We had some stiff competition, but you know, it’s the Olympics, so every boat is going to be fast, so we approached it to race it,” Bub said. “It wasn’t our best piece, but luckily we have another shot tomorrow.”
Three additional boats will be in action on Monday including the two eights, which will be hitting the water for the first time in Paris.
The U.S. men’s eight starts action tomorrow after winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in May to earn its spot in Paris. The crew followed that up by winning a silver medal at the second World Rowing Cup race the next week in Lucerne. On Monday, the crew of Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club) will take on the Netherlands, Germany, and Romania in the first of two heats, with the winner advancing directly to the final. The Dutch were second at the 2023 World Championships and finished third in Lucerne. Dean is the lone returning Olympian, having raced in the men’s four in Tokyo. The remaining eight athletes will be racing at their first Olympics.
The women’s eight of coxswain Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton),Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker(Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) won the silver medal at last year’s world championships behind Romania and finished third at the world cup race in Lucerne in May. On Monday, the crew will take on Romania and Italy in the second of two heats, with the winner advancing directly to the final and the remaining boats heading to the repechage. Musnicki is a four-time Olympian and two-time Olympic gold medalist, while Buck, Coffey, Collins, Salmons, and Wanamaker all raced in Tokyo. Bruggeman, who served as an alternate in Tokyo, will be racing at her first Olympics, as will Castagna and Hedeman.
After finishing fourth in the its heat on Saturday, the U.S. women’s quadruple sculls crew of Lauren O’Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin/ARION), Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/ University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa/Stanford University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will have another shot to advance to the final from Monday’s repechage. The crew will take on China, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia, with the top two finishers moving on to the race for the medals and the remaining crews heading to the B final for overall places 7-9.
Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 3. Tuesday’s racing includes quarterfinals in the single sculls, as well as semifinals in the double sculls and repechages in the fours. Medal races start on Wednesday. Click here for a complete race schedule.
In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics including the women’s single sculls, men’s single sculls, women’s double sculls, men’s double sculls, lightweight women’s double sculls, women’s quadruple sculls, women’s pair, men’s pair, women’s four, men’s four, women’s eight and men’s eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.
Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.
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