Luwis Golden at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne

Sophia Luwis (McLean, Va./The College of William & Mary/Whitemarsh Boat Club) won the gold medal in the lightweight women's single sculls Saturday at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Luwis, who won a silver medal in the event at the second world cup last month in Varese, Italy, pulled away from Ireland's Siobhan McCrohan in the second half of the race to win gold in a 7:32.41. McCrohan took the lead in the first 500 meters, with Luwis sitting less than a second behind the leader. The American slowly closed the gap during the second quarter of the race and pulled into the lead by about a deck as the scullers hit the midway point.

In the third 500 meters, Luwis continued to power away from McCrohan, taking an open-water advantage as she entered the final quarter of the race, and then extending that lead to a boat-length of open water at the line.

"Today's face was super fun," Luwis said. "It was a really good culmination of all the things I have been learning and practicing on this trip, I have gotten a lot of seconds in my rowing career at big events, so it feels really, really good to get gold at one of the biggest rowing events I have ever done."

McCrohan brought home the silver medal in a 7:36.85, with Great Britain's Olivia Bates holding off Australia's Georgia Miansarow for bronze. Elizabeth Martin (Lexington, Mass./Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Riverside Boat Club) overtook France's Aurelie Morizot in the final 500 meters to finish fifth, clocking a 7:46.46.

In the lightweight men's single sculls, Jamie Copus (Oxford, England/Oxford Brookes University/Penn AC) finished third in the B final for a ninth-place finish overall. After finishing sixth in the morning semifinal, Copus rowed in fourth or fifth place for much of the B final before pulling into third during the last 500 meters. Austria's Lukas Reim won the B final in a 7:05.41, with Germany's Arno Gaus taking second in a 7:05.99. Copus crossed the finish line in a 7:06.95 to claim third ahead of Austria's Konrad Hultsch.

While all the U.S. boats have finished competing in Lucerne, racing concludes on Sunday with finals in Olympic and Paralympic boat classes.

Nearly 700 athletes from 52 nations are competing this weekend in Switzerland. The live race tracker and live audio will be available on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming of the A finals will be available on the World Rowing website. Event coverage is available on USRowing.org and WorldRowing.com.

USRowing would like to thank Filippi Lido, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams. Under the agreement, Filippi is providing USRowing a fleet of boats for international competitions including the World Rowing Cup regattas, World Rowing Under 23 Championships, World Rowing Championships, Olympic Games, and Paralympic Games, as well as a domestic training fleet for the USRowing Training Center.