Four Crews Secure Spots in the Semifinals at the 2024 World Championships

The World Rowing Senior, U23, and U19 Championships continued Tuesday, August 20, with senior and U23 heats and repechages in St. Catharines, Canada. Racing was canceled Monday due to adverse conditions. The wind continued to affect racing causing a delay of racing this morning. Once racing began, however, the conditions improved throughout the day. 

The women’s four with coxswain won their preliminary race for lanes after falling behind at the start. New Zealand led the race until the U.S. crew was able to respond, moving through the crew in the last 500 meters. The crew of Anna Garrison, Jordan Freer, Olivia Meskan, Olivia Bachert, and coxswain Carly Legenzowski finished in a time of 7:30.49, over two seconds ahead of second-place finishers New Zealand. The women’s four with coxswain final is scheduled for Thursday. 

Joshua Diggons, Miles Hudgins, Braden Porterfield, Leo Bessler, and coxswain Iliad Izadi led the men’s four with coxswain from wire to wire, winning in a time of 6:40.92, just under five seconds ahead of second place finisher Italy. The crew was challenged throughout the preliminary race for lanes by the Italian crew until the last 500 meters, where the U.S. was able to walk away from the rest of the field. The men’s four with coxswain final is scheduled for Thursday. 

“I didn’t get a chance to win the men’s four last so it was cool to come across and be a little bit more dominant than it was last year.” said Northeastern’s Braden Porterfield. “The wind affected us and everyone else but it was nice to get the job done.” 

Drexel University’s Josh Diggons added, “It felt good. Long race, but I feel like we did a nice job holding the base through the middle.”

University of Pennsylvania’s Harrison Azrak and George Drago finished second behind the crew from China in the lightweight men’s pair preliminary race for lanes in a time of 7:28.47. The Chinese led the race from the first 500 meters with the U.S. crew firmly in second place ahead of the crew from Mexico. The crew will line up in the final on Thursday. 

Columbia’s Colton Millar and Adam Pushner won their heat in the U23 men’s pair by over nine seconds ahead of second-place finishers Norway. The Norwegian crew dominated the start and led the race over the U.S. crew by over two seconds. Millar and Pushner were able to move back into the Norwegians and push past them in the second 500 meters of the race. They continued to push away the field over the second thousand meters finishing with a time of 7:08.24. They will race in the A/B Semifinal on Wednesday. 

The lightweight men’s quadruple sculls finished third in their preliminary race for lanes with a time of 6:39.50. Germany took an early lead on the field with the U.S. in second place through the midpoint of the race. The crew from Mexico was able to move on the U.S. crew in the third 500 meters. Germany won with a time of 6:33.48 followed by Mexico in a time of 6:36.96.

Stroke Jasper Liu said, “The race was ok; we definitely have room to go faster on Saturday. I thought we had a good start but did not execute the base pace that we know we have. We are excited to have a few days between now and the final to sharpen up and show some faster speed on Saturday.”

The U.S. women’s quadruple sculls finished fourth in their heat in a time of 7:25.23. The Romanian crew took an early lead and led the field with Great Britain following closely behind. The U.S. crew fell behind in the first 500 meters and struggled to close the gap. They will race in the repechage scheduled for tomorrow at 9:57 a.m ET. 

Yale University’s Timothy Parsons fell just short of qualifying for the A Final in the U23 men’s lightweight single sculls by just 1.19 seconds in a hard fought battle for the top two qualifying spots. In a close race with Canada’s Emerson Crick, Crick was able to close the gap in the last 500 meters to overtake Parsons for the final qualifying position. The repechage was won by Argentina’s Santino Menin in a time of 7:39.66. Parsons will race in the B Final on Friday. 

Paige Wheeler and Ellie Van Houten were unable to secure a spot in the A Final in the U23 women’s double sculls, finishing fifth in the repechage with a time of 7:52.82. The German crew won the race in a time of 7:41.11, dominating from the first strokes while the U.S. crew fell into sixth place in the first 500 meters. They were able to move through the crew from Paraguay in the second 500 meters. The Australian crew took the final spot in the A Final with a time of 7:42.47. Wheeler and Van Houten will race in the B Final scheduled for Friday at 9:40 a.m. ET. 

In the U23 men’s double sculls, John and James Patton missed out on the final qualifying position in the repechage, finishing fourth behind South Africa in a time of 7:10.47. The brothers slipped into fifth in the first half of the race before moving their bow past Hungary into fourth. They were unable to close the gap to South Africa in the closing strokes of the race. China took the victory with a time of 6:59.44 followed by Croatia in second. The U.S. crew will race in the C Final on Thursday at 9:35 a.m. ET. 

Audrey Boersen will be heading to the repechage tomorrow morning after finishing third in her heat. With only one qualifying spot available, Greece's Zoi Fitsiou quickly moved into first place in the first 500 meters. Boersen sat comfortably in third place behind Switzerland's Eline Rol throughout the race. Boersen finished in a time of 8:43.63 and will race in the repechage tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. ET. 

The crew from the University of Texas won the repechage for the U23 women's four. Despite a few challenges with steering in the first 500 meters, the crew was able to move through Germany and Canada in the second 500 meters. They finished in a time of 7:20.13 over eight seconds ahead of second place finishers Germany to secure a spot in the A/B Semifinals tomorrow. 

The men's four finished fourth in the repechage despite a valiant fight for third in a time of 6:41.57. The crew from the University of Wisconsin battled with the crew from Austria throughout the race, but was unable to hold on to the third place position in the last 600 meters of the race. Croatia won the repechage in a time of 6:33.97. The U.S. crew will race in the C Final on Thursday. 

Stanford’s James Fetter confidently secured his spot in the U23 men’s single sculls A/B Semifinals. Tunisia’s Fedi Ben Hammouda and Fetter were trading blows throughout the first half of the race before Ben Hammouda walked away securing victory in a time of 7:53.98. Fetter crossed the line in a time of 8:01.35 over five seconds ahead of third place finisher Japan’s Taisei Miyaguchi. Fetter will line up again tomorrow at 3:10 p.m. ET in a fight for a spot in the A Final. 

University of Washington’s Cillian Mullen finished second in the women’s single sculls repechage, beating out China’s Huan Wang by just .11. South Africa’s Courtney Westley led the race throughout with Mullen and Wang in close pursuit. Mullen was able to close the gap in the last 500 meters after Wang had managed to move into second in the middle of the race. Westley won the race in 8:50.54 followed by Mullen in 8:53.92. Mullen advances to the A/B Semifinal tomorrow at 3:20 p.m. ET. 

Tomorrow’s racing begins with Audrey Boersen’s repechage at 9:30 a.m. ET followed by the kick off of the U19 heats for the men’s quad, double, pair and single. Wednesday’s racing also includes the U23 women’s quad repechage and the semifinals for the U23 men’s single, pair, and quadruple sculls and the women’s single and four. 

Schedule and results can be found here.