Women’s Single and Double Advance
on First Day in Tokyo

 

Eights races moved up to Saturday due to weather forecast

The U.S. women's single sculls and women's double sculls advanced out of their heats on Friday as racing got underway at the Sea Forest Waterway at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
 
Additionally, due to Monday's weather forecast,

the men's and women's eights have been rescheduled for Saturday and events originally scheduled to take place Monday have been moved up to Sunday. Click here for the latest schedule.
 
In the women's single sculls, two-time Olympian Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley) advanced directly to Sunday's quarterfinals thanks to a win in the first of six heats. With the top three moving on to the quarterfinals, Iran's Nazanin Malaei took the early lead before Kohler moved into the top spot as the scullers hit the midway point. Kohler continued to extend her lead over the back half of the race, while Belarus' Tatsiana Klimovich moved into second position ahead of Malaei. As the scullers crossed the line, Kohler finished with a time of 7:49.71, a little more than two seconds ahead of Klimovich. Malaei finished third.
 
"It was just so exciting to be racing – let some of that adrenaline out during the race and get some of the nerves out," Kohler said.
 
In the women's double sculls, three-time Olympian Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass/Princeton University) and Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University) moved on to Sunday's semifinals after finishing second in their heat. With three to advance, Stone and Wagner got off the line in fifth position with France and China taking the early lead. New Zealand made its move in the second 500 meters to grab the top spot, with the U.S. moving into fourth just behind China. New Zealand continued to build its advantage on the rest of the field during the third quarter of the race, as Stone and Wagner passed China and then France to move into second position with just 500 meters to go. New Zealand won the race in a 6:53.62, with the U.S. crossing in a 6:55.65. France finished third to also advance to the semifinals.
 
"It's always a shock to the body to race 2k after all the short pieces and taper," Stone said. "I think that we did a decent job of ripping off that band-aide. We advanced directly, which is the first goal, and got that second-place spot, which will be helpful, hopefully, in lanes for the semifinals. There are things we can improve on – always want to go faster."
 
The women's quadruple sculls crew of Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich./University of Michigan), Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La./University of Virginia), Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University), and Cicely Madden (Weston, Mass./Brown University) finished fifth in the first of two heats and now will race in Sunday's repechage for another chance to move on to the final. With two to advance, Germany and The Netherlands battled each other the entire way down the course. Germany ended up pulling ahead in the final few strokes to win in a 6:18.22, with The Netherlands finishing second in a 6:19.36. The U.S. clocked a 6:34.36.
 
"I was just bummed that we were dropped off the start," Rusher said. "We have a lot more speed than we showed today. I'm glad that the first race is over, and we can just focus on coming together with a lot of speed. Our practices have been going really well, so I think the only change that we are going to make is coming off the start a little more aggressive and a little sharper."
 
Six more U.S. crews will hit the water for the first time tomorrow, as the weather forecast on Monday pushed the men's and women's eights heats up from Sunday to Saturday.
 
In the women's pair, four time Olympian Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis./University of Washington) and two-time Olympian Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J./Cornell University) will take on Romania, Italy, Canada and Greece in the first of three heats. The top three finishers will move on to the semifinals. Canada won bronze in the event at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, while Romania reached the medal stand at the 2021 World Rowing Cup II race in Lucerne.
 
The lightweight women's double sculls duo of Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) will race against crews from Italy, France, Switzerland, Ireland and Indonesia in the first of three heats, needing a top-two finish to advance directly to the semifinals. Sechser and Reckford made the Olympics thanks to a victory at the 2021 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. France reached the medal stand at the 2021 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, winning bronze.
                                                       
"It's hard to say," Sechser said of their medal prospects. "That's one thing that the postponement has certainly shaken up for us is that we have not raced all the other countries in the way we normally would in a racing season that would have world cups and a world championships, so it's been two years since we've all raced each other. Knowing that, we've trained as hard and as focused as we could for the past two years. The heat goes off Saturday morning and that's when we'll see how the cards fall and progress from there through the regatta."
 
The women's four returns to the Olympic program for the first time since 1992, replacing the lightweight men's four. This U.S. crew 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) will race against Australia, Ireland, Romania and Denmark in the second of two heats, with the top two finishers advancing directly to the final. Australia and Demark won gold and bronze, respectively, at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, while Romania reached the medal stand earlier this year in Lucerne.
 
The men's four crew 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) will take on Australia, Romania, The Netherlands and South Africa in the first of two heats, with the top two advancing to the final. Romania won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and bronze at the world cup in Lucerne. South Africa also reached the medal stand in Lucerne, winning silver
 
In the men's eight, 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), 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) will face Germany, Romania and Australia in the first of two heats, with the winner automatically qualifying for the final. The U.S. finished fifth at the 2019 World Rowing Championships to earn a spot in Tokyo. Venonsky and five rowers return from that boat, while Best, Miklasevich and Corrigan are all making their senior team debuts. Germany won the gold medal in 2019.
 
The U.S. women's eight enters the Games as the three-time defending Olympic champions, having won gold in 2008, 2012, and 2016. This year's crew of coxswain Katelin Guregian (Detroit, Mich./University of Washington), Kristine O'Brien (Massapequa Park, N.Y./University of Virginia), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University), Brooke Mooney (Peru, Vt./University of Washington), Gia Doonan (Rochester, Mass./University of Texas), Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University), and Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington) includes two members of the 2016 boat – Musnicki and Guregian. Musnicki also was part of the 2012 gold medal crew. The U.S. will take on Romania and Australia in the second of two heats tomorrow, with the winner moving on directly to the final. The U.S. finished third at the World Rowing Championships in 2019 behind New Zealand and Australia.
 
Saturday's racing starts at 8:00 a.m. local time (7:00 p.m. EDT on Friday). NBC's broadcast schedule and links to NBC's live streaming are available on USRowing's Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage page.
 
In total, the U.S. has nine crews competing in Tokyo.
 
Click here for the full schedule on the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 website, and click here for USRowing's Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage page for athlete bios, articles, photos and more.

Click here for flash quotes from today's racing.