Luwis Wins Silver Medal at World Cup in Lucerne

Sophia Luwis won the silver medal in the lightweight women's single sculls, while three U.S. crews advanced to tomorrow's finals during Saturday's racing at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland. In total, the U.S. will have seven crews competing for medals on Sunday.

In the final of lightweight women's single sculls, Luwis (McLean, Va./The College of William & Mary/Whitemarsh Boat Club), who brought home a bronze medal in the event from the 2023 World Rowing Championships, won silver to give the U.S. its first medal of the weekend. Luwis got off the line in fourth position before moving into second place during the second quarter of the race. Ireland's Siobhan McCrohan took command off the start and let the other scullers battle it out for the remaining medals. Luwis solidified her silver-medal position during the middle 1,000 meters, leaving Great Britain's Olivia Bates and France's Aurelie Morizot to race for bronze. McCrohan won the race in a 7:36.27, with Luwis crossing in a 7:40.35. Bates held off Morizot to win bronze in a 7:43.65. Audrey Boersen (West Olive, Mich./Grand Valley State University/Whitemarsh Boat Club), who won the repechage to advance to the final, took fifth. Boersen finished with a time of 7:45.03.

"It was a blast," Luwis said. "Yesterday gave me enough confidence to race pretty open and free today. Like I said, the only plan was to have fun and make it hurt, and I think I definitely accomplished both of those things. Obviously, you always want to do a little bit better, but that was everything I had today, and I can live with getting silver knowing that."
 
In the final of the lightweight men's single sculls, Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) raced in fifth position the entire way down the course, finishing with a time of 7:10.48. Hong Kong's Hin Chun Chiu led the race from start to finish to win the gold medal, with France's Baptiste Savaete taking silver in a 7:05.88. Italy's Patrick Rocek won bronze in a 7:06.05.
 
In the women's double sculls, Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), the reigning world championships' bronze medalists, finished second in their semifinal to advance to tomorrow's final. Australia's Harriet Hudson and Amanda Bateman took the early lead and then held off a late charge by the Americans to win the race in a 6:56.33. Wagner and Vitas got off the line in third place behind Australia and China's Shuangmei Shen and Shiyu Lu before overtaking the Chinese boat in the second quarter of the race. Australia continued to build its lead in the third 500 meters before Wagner and Vitas made a push in the final sprint. Australia crossed the line in a 6:56.33, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:57.26. China held on for third, crossing in a 6:59.46. The three crews will race against Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand in the final. Ireland's Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde won the first semifinal in a 6:57.98.
 
Racing in the first of two semifinals of the women's pair, the USA1 crew of Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) finished third to advance to tomorrow's final. The Netherlands' Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering, the reigning world champions, and Australia's Annabelle Mcintyre and Jessica Morrison, the current world silver medalists, battled each other at the top of the field, while the U.S. dueled Great Britain for the third qualifying spot. The Netherlands and Australia jumped out to the early lead, with the Dutch crew holding a small advantage at the 500-meter mark before the Australians inched their bowball ahead at the halfway point. Australia maintained a slight lead as the boats hit 500-meters to go, but the Dutch crew won the sprint to the line, crossing in a 7:04.65 to finish 1.82 seconds ahead of Australia. Meanwhile, the British boat of Rebecca Edwards and Chloe Brew held the third qualification position through the 1,000-meter mark before Thoennes and Czajkowski used a strong move in the third 500 row past Great Britain. The Americans pulled away over the back half of the race to take third in a 7:15.97. The USA2 duo of Emily Froehlich (Fishers, Ind./University of Texas/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University/California Rowing Club) finished sixth in the first semifinal, crossing the line in a 7:32.03. In the second semifinal, Ireland's Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh won the race in a 7:10.13. USA1 will face The Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Greece, and a second Dutch boat in the medal race, while USA2 will row against Great Britain, Spain, Czech Republic, Chile, and a second Australian crew in the B final for places 7-12.
 
The U.S. women's four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) won its repechage on Sunday to advance to tomorrow's final. The U.S. took a slight advantage in the first 500 meters and continued to hold a narrow of margin at the halfway point. The American crew was able to gain little separation in the third 500 meters before crossing the line 2.10 seconds ahead of China. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:32.96, with China taking second. The Americans will take on The Netherlands, Great Britain, New Zealand, China, and Australia in the final.

"This is our first racing as a crew, so we're really just trying to get some experience executing our race plan, so today was just a good step towards that," Kallfelz said. "Tomorrow will be more of the same. We're obviously racing some speedy crews, so we're really focusing on getting a little better every day, given this is our third week together as a crew. It should be lots of fun."
 
Coming off a third-place finish in his heat of the PR1 men's single sculls, Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/Texas Rowing Center/West Side Rowing Club) finished third in his repechage and now will race in tomorrow's B final. With the top two scullers advancing, Mangan got off the line in fourth before moving into third position during the second quarter of the race. However, Uzbekistan's Egamberdiev Kholmurod and Spain's Javier Garcia Martinez had built too big of a lead for Mangan to chase down a spot in the medal race. Kholmurod won the race in a 9:56.16, with Garcia Martinez finishing in a 10:01.42. Mangan clocked a 10:11.84 and will face scullers from Tunisia and The Netherlands in the B final for overall places 7-9.
 
Racing in the second semifinal of the men's pair, the USA1 crew of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and William Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) finished fourth and now will race in tomorrow's B final. In what turned into a four-way race for the three qualification spots, Ireland's John Kearney and Ross Corrigan were able to catch Bub and Bender in the final sprint to earn the last qualification spot. Spain's Javier Garcia Ordonez and Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Great Britain's James Robson and William Stewart took the early lead on the field with the British boat inching into the lead at the midway point. The Spanish crew retook the advantage in the third 500 meters and were able to keep Great Britain at bay over the final sprint. After getting off the line in fifth, Bub and Bender moved into third position at the 1,000-meter mark and still held a 0.79-second lead on Ireland with 500 meters to go. However, the Irish boat was able to pull ahead in the final few strokes. Spain won the race in a 6:31.18, with Great Britain finishing second in a 6:31.94. Ireland clocked a 6:32.27, with USA1 crossing in a 6:32.53. In the first semifinal, the USA2 crew of Alexander Hedge (Morristown, N.J./Columbia University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Gus Rodriguez (Rye, N.Y./Brown University/California Rowing Club) finished fifth, also moving to the B final. Hedge and Rodriguez sat in fifth the entire way down the course, crossing the line in a 6:44.44. World silver medalists Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith from Great Britain won the race in a 6:32.99, finishing nearly five seconds ahead of Switzerland's Andrin Gulich and Roman Roeoesli. The two U.S. boats will race against two boats from New Zealand, Italy, and Australia in the B final.
 
In the women's single sculls, Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center - Princeton), will be heading to the B final after finishing fourth in the second semifinal. With three to advance, Kohler moved into third during the third 500 meters but was unable to hold off the late charge by Individual Neutral Athlete Tatsiana Klimovich to grab the last qualifying spot. New Zealand's Emma Twigg, the reigning Olympic champion, won the race in a 7:31.68, with Lithuania's Viktorija Senkute taking second in a 7:33.07. Klimovich finished third in a 7:33.57, with Kohler crossing in a 7:35.64. Kohler will face scullers from the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, Germany, Lithuania, and Switzerland in the B final for places 7-12.
 
In the C final of the women's single sculls, Alina Hagstrom (Seattle, Wash./Oregon State University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) came from behind to win the race and finish 13th overall. Great Britain's Lucy Glover took the early lead and led through the 1,500-meter mark. Hagstrom got off the line in fourth position before moving into second place at the midway point, trailing Glover by just over three seconds. In the third 500 meters, Hagstrom cut the lead to less than one second and then overtook Glover in the sprint to the finish. Hagstrom won the race in a 7:39.56, with Glover finishing in a 7:41.82.
 
In the C final of the men's single sculls, Michael Knippen (Germantown, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota) finished fourth to place 16th overall. Knippen raced in fifth position for the first half of the race before moving up to fourth. Brazil's Lucas Verthein Ferreira won the race in a 6:50.00, with Italy's Niels Torre finishing second. Knippen clocked a 6:58.47.
 
In addition to the boats that advanced today, the U.S. will have four other crews racing for medals on Sunday.

The men's four of Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club), and Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club) posted the fastest time of the heats to advance to Sunday's final. They will take on France, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, and The Netherlands in the medal race.
 
In the lightweight women's double sculls, Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) and Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/ USRowing Training Center – Princeton) won the second of two heats to advance directly to Sunday's final. The duo will take on Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and China in the final.
 
The U.S. women's eight of Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) won its preliminary race for lanes ahead of Australia. The U.S., Australia, Canada, and Great Britain will race for the medals on Sunday.
 
The U.S. men's eight of Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club), Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), and Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota) also won its preliminary race for lanes. The crew will take on Great Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, and Australia in the final.
 
Racing concludes Sunday with finals in the Olympic and Paralympic boat classes. Sunday's racing begins at 9:00 a.m. local time. Click here for the most up-to-date schedule and results.

The live race tracker and live audio will be available for all races on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on Sunday starting at 10:00 a.m. local time for the A finals of all World Rowing Cup boat classes.

Rowing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place July 27-August 4. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are scheduled from August 28 to September 8, with Para rowing events beginning August 30. 

The full Olympic team will be nominated by June 7, and the complete Paralympic team will be nominated by July 1. For information, updates, and athlete features, visit our Row to Paris page. Click here for the current rosters of the 2024 Olympic Team and 2024 Paralympic Team.

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