The U.S. women's double sculls and men's four both finished fifth during Wednesday's finals, while the lightweight women's double sculls and men's eight advanced to the finals at the Sea Forest Waterway at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
In the women's double sculls, three-time
"We raced hard," Stone said. "It was the Olympic final, and we worked hard in the semi to put ourselves there. The goal was to go out and have a great race in the hopes that that would put us on the podium. We attacked it from the first stroke. We didn't give them a head start today, and I really think we fought every stroke. Lithuania and the Dutch took off with 500 to go and we tried to go with them."
Romania finished with a time of 6:41.03, followed by New Zealand in a 6:44.82. The Netherlands finished third. Stone and Wagner crossed in a 6:52.98.
The men's four of Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University), Anders Weiss (Barrington, R.I./Brown University) and Andrew Reed (Wayland, Mass./Harvard University) also finished fifth in the final. Australia took the early lead and continued to build a boat-length advantage in the first 1,000 meters, with Great Britain and Romania battling it out for second and third. The U.S., Italy and The Netherlands sat just off the medal pace in a virtual dead heat for fourth as the crews entered the back half of the race. Over the final 500 meters, Romania and Italy made a strong charge on Australia in an effort to win gold, but the Aussie crew was able to hold on for the victory. Australia won the race in a 5:42.76, with Romania finishing 0.37 seconds behind in a 5:43.13. Italy took the bronze medal. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:48.85.
"I think that we worked really hard. We train hard; we work well together," Reed said. "I think we've made big, big strides coming together as a unit. It was just really fast conditions out there and the caliber of rowing was, we just didn't have it today. I'm really proud of the racing we did to get to this point, and I thought we had a really good process going through it."
Racing in the second of two semifinals of the lightweight women's double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) finished second to advance to tomorrow's final. Sechser and Reckford edged ahead of Romania and Russia as the crews rowed through the 500-meter mark and continued to maintain a lead when the field hit the halfway point. In the third 500, Italy began to press Romania and Russia, moving into second position behind the U.S. boat with 500 meters to go. The Italians chipped away at the Americans lead over the final 500 meters, catching them at the line in a Worlds' Best Time of 6:41.36. Sechser and Reckford finished just 0.18 seconds behind in a 6:41.54, which also eclipsed the previous Worlds' Best Time. Romania pulled away from Russia to also advance to the final. Great Britain won the first semifinal in a 6:41.99, with France and The Netherlands claiming the other two spots in the final. Tomorrow's race for the medals is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. local time (9:10 p.m. EDT, Wednesday).
"We're feeling good" Sechser said. "It was a really challenging race out there. I'd say certainly one of the hardest races I've ever put together in my rowing career, managing not only the speed of the field but some of the most challenging conditions we've ever faced as a crew. It felt good to come away in a qualifying position. We certainly tried to open up a margin in the third 500 that could give us a really commanding position, keep our eyes on the field. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite hold off the charge from the Italians, but we'll see them again tomorrow."
The men's eight of coxswain Julian Venonsky (Malvern, Pa./University of California, Berkeley), Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University), Conor Harrity (Weston, Mass./Harvard University), Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University), Alexander Richards (Watertown, Mass./Harvard University), two-time Olympian Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn./Stanford University), Alex Miklasevich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brown University), Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University), and Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington) finished third in its repechage to advance to Friday's final. Great Britain jumped out on the field and still held a slight advantage as the crews crossed the 1,000-meter mark. However, New Zealand moved in front just after the midway point and continued to put distance between themselves and the rest of the field. The U.S., which sat in third, made a big move over the final 500 meters to try to chase down Great Britain for second, but their sprint came up just short. New Zealand won the race in a 5:22.04, with Great Britain finishing in a 5:23.32. The U.S. finished with a time of 5:23.43. Australia crossed in fourth to also advance to the final. The four crews will take on heat winners Germany and The Netherlands in the final.
"We were pretty mature about at least our first 500," Best said. "There's an opening down there...there's this direct crosswind, so at least from two seat, (Ben) Davison and I were talking about just trying to keep a level platform, setting it up so that the guys can do their work. It might have been a rough first 500, but the goal was to qualify, and we kept our heads in the boat and that's what we ended up doing."
The women's pair of four-time Olympian Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis./University of Washington) and two-time Olympian Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J./Cornell University) finished fifth in their semifinal and will now race in the B final for places 7-12. Kalmoe and Eisser sat in fourth position through the 1,000-meter mark, still within contact of a qualification spot. However, the U.S. duo was unable to chase down the leading crews over the back half of the race. New Zealand, the defending world champions, won with a time of 6:47.41. Russia finished second, followed by a hard-charging Spain. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:02.52. Kalmoe and Eisser will race against crews from Australia, Romania, Ireland, Italy, and Denmark in tomorrow's B final at 8:40 a.m. local time (7:40 p.m. EDT, Wednesday).
The women's four of two-time Olympian Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich./Stanford University), Kendall Chase (Evergreen, Colo./University of California, Berkeley), Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University) and Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin) ended their regatta with a victory, winning the B final to finish in seventh-place overall. The U.S. trailed Romania 500 meters into the race but took the lead as the crews approached the midway point. The Americans continued to build their lead on Romania over the third 500 meters before crossing the line just over one second ahead of Denmark, who chased down the Romanians. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:33.65, with the Danes clocking a 6:34.72. Romania finished third.
"Obviously, we came into this regatta hoping for a medal and that didn't happen, but with that being said, we learned from each race and we got better each race and improved as a group and as individuals," Chase said. "I'm super proud of these women. We executed (today's) race the way we wanted. We did what we could and came away with a win and ended on a high note."
The women's quadruple sculls crew of three-time Olympian Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich./University of Michigan), two-time Olympian Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La./University of Virginia), Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University), and Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass./Brown University) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place finish overall. Great Britain led from start to finish. The U.S. crew rowed in third for much of the race before dropping to fourth in the final few strokes. The British boat finished with a time of 6:25.14, followed by New Zealand and France. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:30.03.
"At this regatta, it was super disappointing, but with each race, all you can do, and all I could do, was focus on the small steps – what can I do to make a difference in the next one," Madden said. "You aren't going to (improve) leaps and bounds, but if (you) can make a change in each race, as a group or as an individual, that's all you can do. On this day, that was the best we could be. I think you can take that away – that you left it on the water."
In addition to the lightweight women's double sculls final and the women's pair B final, two-time Olympian Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley) will race in the semifinals of the women's single sculls on Thursday at 10:50 a.m. local time (9:50 p.m. EDT, Wednesday). Kohler finished second in her quarterfinal to defending world champion Sanita Puspure of Ireland to advance to the semi. Kohler, the 2019 World Rowing Championships' bronze medalist in the event, will race in the second of two semis against scullers from Iran, Austria, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain. New Zealand's Emma Twigg and Austria's Magdalena Lobnig won their quarterfinals. Twigg, a four-time Olympian, finished in the silver-medal position between Puspure and Kohler at the 2019 World Rowing Championships.
Rowing concludes on Friday with finals in the men's and women's single sculls and men's and women's eights. Click here for the most up-to-date schedule on the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 website.
NBC's broadcast schedule and links to NBC's live streaming are available on USRowing's Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage page, as are athlete bios, daily recaps/previews, photos and more.
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