Crews Hit the Water Ahead of Final Olympic Qualification Regatta

With the venue in Lucerne opening on Thursday for practice ahead of the 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, the six U.S. boats are making their final preparations for the start of racing on Saturday.

The lightweight men's double sculls crew of Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia) and Jasper Liu (Phoenix, Ariz./University of Pennsylvania) and men's double sculls crew of Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./ University of Alabama, Huntsville) and Jonathan Kirkegaard (DeForest, Wis./Purdue University) arrived in Lucerne on Wednesday, having spent the last several weeks training together in Ägerisee, Switzerland, following their victories at the first 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in late February.

Cardno, who is racing in his first international regatta, said the camp was a valuable experience for his boat.

"The preparation coming into Lucerne has been really good," Cardno said. "Getting here early and acclimated was a good choice for us – being able to get the boat set up and to have an extremely focused and productive training camp. Having the lightweights side-by-side with us every day has been incredibly valuable to continue to keep ourselves honest. We hope it's been mutually beneficial to them as well."

Heese said the training camp gave his boat an opportunity to get comfortable in their new shell and bring an "unrelenting focus" to work on their technique.

"We completely tore up our rowing stroke and put it back together, looking for something more efficient," Heese said. "We are excited to show off what we have been working on. Having arrived in Lucerne, it finally hit me that this will be the most competitive race in my career. There is a palpable edge in the air, as everyone here will be giving it their all in an attempt to claim the last spots at the Olympics. I'm starting to mentally prepare to be side-by-side, in a deep and uncomfortable pain, with the other countries for the entire race. Keeping cool in that spot will be what determines how successful we are at this regatta."

While the two double sculls crews headed to Europe to train, men's single sculler John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio/Trinity College) headed back to Austin after his Olympic Trials' victory to train with Dave O'Neill and the University of Texas women's team.

"I think it's easy to come off of a trials' win and let the blade become a bit dull and have some mission drift," Graves said. "So, I can't overstate how helpful it has been to be in that competitive environment with the UT women and having Dave help me to keep the sword sharp."

Graves also credits O'Neill and the team for helping him through a difficult time, as his longtime coach, Larry Gluckman, unexpectedly passed away at the end of March about a month after the Olympic Trials.

"After the sudden passing of my coach, Larry Gluckman, I'm not sure I would have been able to cope without the compassion and empathy of the coaches and the team," Graves said. "They really helped me through a tough time and gave me the space and support to help me see that continuing to bring excellence to my rowing is what Larry would have wanted. I've tried my best to honor what he believed in and what he stood for by bending the oars with everything I have and enjoying the gift of making this single move as fast as possible."

The U.S. men's quadruple sculls of crew Charles Anderson (Upper Darby, Pa./Temple University), Justin Keen (Hatfield, Pa./Penn State University), Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University) headed to Europe just after the second Olympic Trials to get some international racing experience. At the first World Rowing Cup of the season two weeks ago, the crew finished fourth, missing a medal by just 0.1 seconds. The event allowed the crew to build confidence and adapt to the logistics of international racing.

"The biggest takeaway for us is that we have the speed to compete internationally with the top crews," Anderson said after the race. The boat has spent the past two weeks fine-tuning and making final preparations for Lucerne.

After winning the lightweight women's double sculls in dominant fashion at the first Olympic Trials in February, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College) used the open weight women's double sculls trials in April as a chance to test their speed and gain valuable race experience ahead of the qualifier. They continued to train in Princeton following trials before arriving in Switzerland a few days ago.

The men's pair of Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich./University of Michigan) and Mike DiSanto (Boston, Mass./Harvard University) headed back to Boston for train following their uncontested victory at the second trials in New Jersey. The duo also arrived in Switzerland a few days ago to make their final preparations.

Racing at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta gets underway on Saturday with heats and repechages for events with more than 13 entries. Sunday will feature the remaining repechages, quarterfinals and semifinals. Finals will be held on Monday. Racing gets underway at 10 a.m. local time each day. The lane draw will take place at 3 p.m. local time on Friday.

In total, more than 400 athletes from 49 nations are scheduled to compete in the regatta.

Click here for the U.S. Final Olympic Qualification Regatta roster and bios. For complete coverage of the regatta, click here.

The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held July 23-August 9, with rowing events slated to start on the morning of July 23. Click here for the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Qualification Process Quick Guide.