Men’s Four Wins Semifinals, Five Crews Qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics at 2023 World Rowing Championships

The U.S. men's four won its semifinal and, in the process, secured a spot for the United States at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the boat class on Thursday at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The U.S. also secured spots for Paris in the women's four, women's pair, men's pair, and lightweight women's double sculls by advancing to Saturday's finals out of today's semifinals. In addition, the U.S. lightweight women's single sculls won her semifinal to move on to Friday's final. With the lightweight single being a non-Olympic event, Paris qualification was not on the line.

The men's four of Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club), and Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club) won the first semifinal by 2.49 seconds to earn a spot in Saturday's final and qualify the boat for Paris 2024. The U.S. took an early lead on The Netherlands in the first 500 meters before moving out to a length lead at the halfway point. The Americans continued to press the advantage during the third 500, building an open-water lead with 500 meters to go before cruising to the victory. The U.S. clocked a 6:25.99 to win the race, with the Dutch boat finishing second in a 6:28.48. France was able to put away Italy in the final 500 meters to earn the other spot in the final. Great Britain won the second semifinal in a 6:26.39, with New Zealand and Australia taking the other qualifying spots in the final.

"It's really exciting," Grady said. "We were all in Tokyo, so it's nice (to qualify the boat) to return. It was a good race overall, and I think the guys in the boat would say so as well. There's always stuff to work on It's quite windy, so it was an interesting race from the start. I'm proud of all of us."

Racing at her first world championships, lightweight women's single sculler Sophia Luwis (McLean, Va./The College of William & Mary/Whitemarsh Boat Club) won the second semifinal to move on to Friday's final. France's Aurelie Morizot raced to the head of the field in the opening 500 meters, taking the early lead over Poland's Zuzanna Jasinska in second and Luwis in third. Morizot led Luwis by four seconds as the scullers reached the midway point. That's when Luwis began to reel in the French sculler. Luwis had cut the lead to a half-boat with 500 meters to go and powered to a half-length victory at the line. Luwis clocked an 8:46.12, with Morizot finishing in an 8:47.71. Romania's Gianina van Groningen caught Jasinska to take the third qualifying spot for the final. Luwis will take on France, Romania, Ireland, Mexico, and The Netherlands in tomorrow's race for medals.

"They changed our start time … so I (knew it was) going to be rough," Luwis said. "Thankfully, I got three really rough, long races at Royal Henley. Having those under my belt, I (knew) I could handle rough conditions. Looking at the course, I knew that last 500 would be where it would flatten out, so I just tried to be the better rower, be the cleaner rower, the first half and not get frazzled if people jump out in front because I had a favored lane and be ready to go when the water calmed down a little bit."

In the women's four, Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), and Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center-Princeton) finished second in the second semifinal to advance to Saturday's final and qualify the boat for Paris. Great Britain stormed out to the lead, with the U.S. boat settling into second place ahead of Ireland and Denmark. By the midway point, the British crew had extended its lead to nearly seven seconds on the American boat, with the U.S. more than 1.5 seconds ahead of Ireland in third. China closed the gap on Ireland in the third quarter, moving into the last qualifying spot as the crews hit 500 meters to go. At the line, it was Great Britain winning in a 7:06.29, with the U.S. clocking a 7:11.66 to finish second. China took third in a 7:13.62. The Netherlands won the first semifinal in a 6:52.72 ahead of Romania and Australia.

"It's fantastic," said Reelick about qualifying the boat. "The four of us have really enjoyed being together in the boat the past four months. It's been really nice to learn and try to find more speed. It may not be us in the boat, the personnel that are racing next year, but it's good to know there are going to be four U.S. (women) racing."

"Probably one of my windier races," Bruggeman said. "The start was a little messy; we got dropped by GB off the start, but that was fine. We wanted to get top three. We knew there were going to be some bobbles here and there. It was a tight race for that second and third position. The other crews really gave it their all, and I'm really proud of the way that we decided to go up at the end there and hold on to our second-place finish. There is obviously a lot of room for improvement. I think the final is going to be really good, and we can put it all together and put on a good race."

Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club) and Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University/California Rowing Club) finished third in their semifinal of the women's pair to advance to the final and qualify the American boat for Paris. Musnicki and Rusher sat in fifth position through the halfway point before overtaking Greece and the Czech Republic in the second 1,000 meters. The Netherlands' Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering and Australia's Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison got off the line quickly, taking nearly six seconds on the rest of the field in the first half of the race. The two crews battled each other the entire way down the course, with Australia pulling ahead in the final 250 meters to win in a 7:32.30. The Dutch boat finished second in a 7:33.17. The U.S. moved into third place just before the 1,500-meter mark and then pulled away from Greece over the final quarter of the race to finish in a 7:46.87. Romania won the first semifinal in a 7:38.69, with Ireland and Chile also moving on to Saturday's final.

"I am so proud of us," Musnicki said. "Alie did an incredible job of calling the race. We trusted ourselves, stuck with our plan. She kept me on point. I couldn't be more proud of her, and I'm super-excited to have qualified this boat for the U.S. for the Olympics."

"It's incredible," Rusher said. "It's kind of hard to believe it. We took our middle move today for ourselves. We always decide before the race what's going to inspire us the most, and when I called it for Meg and I, that's when we started to walk, and we carried that to the finish."

In the men's pair, Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC) and William Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College) also finished third to advance to Saturday's final and earn a qualification spot for the U.S. in the pair. Racing in the second semifinal, Olson and Bender settled into third place and a qualification spot in the first 500 meters and then pulled away from the rest of the field to secure their position. Great Britain's Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith took the early lead over Switzerland's Andrin Gulich and Roman Roeoesli. The British boat continued to extend its lead over the middle 1,000 meters, before Switzerland made a small push in the final sprint. Great Britain won the race in a 6:59.61, with Switzerland finishing in a 7:01.60. The U.S. clocked a 7:03.33. Romania won the second semifinal in a 6:51.21, followed by Ireland and South Africa.

"We just kept our cool," Olson said. "We didn't do anything crazy. We knew the boat with the best base was going to qualify. We knew we were going to hit some wobbles, take some bad strokes, and we did, but we just put together enough good strokes that we made it. It's really cool to be here. It's an amazing opportunity, and we're going to do our best to capitalize on it on Saturday."

Mary Jones Nabel (Huntsville, Ala./University of Tennessee/Cambridge Boat Club) and Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/Cambridge Boat Club) gave the U.S. another Paris 2024 qualification thanks to a third-place finish in the second semifinal of the lightweight women's double sculls. In what turned out to be a four-boat race for the three qualifying spots, the American boat held off a late charge from Ireland's Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen to secure a spot in the final. France's Claire Bove and Laura Tarantola got off the line at the top of the field, with Canada's Jennifer Casson and Jill Moffatt just back in second position and the U.S. in third. Casson and Moffatt moved into the top spot during the second 500 meters, with New Zealand's Jackie Kiddle and Shannon Cox sitting just a foot behind in second. Jones Nabel and Sechser were just a few tenths back, with France in fourth. As the crews powered into the third 500 meters, France began to drop off the back of the leading crews, but the Irish were starting to make their move. The field continued to tighten heading into the final 500 meters, with the Kiwis taking a slight lead on Canada and the U.S. sitting a couple of feet behind. At the line, Canada had retaken the lead to win the race in a 7:23.12, with New Zealand finishing in a 7:23.78. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:24.32, finishing just 0.35 seconds ahead of Ireland. Great Britain won the other semifinal in a 7:23.83, with Romania and China earning the other spots in Saturday's final.

"It's really exciting," said Sechser. "You dream so big for the end of the cycle, but it's really just one step at a time. Advancing out of the heat with the wind was great with (it being) Mary and my first race together. We are just taking it one step at a time before we get to the really fun part on Saturday. It's so fantastic knowing that we are on the right track, and that Mary and I can just keep building for here."

"It was really challenging conditions from start to finish," Jones Nabel said. "There were lots of ups and downs with the wind, but we kept coming back to our rhythm, feeling each other, and working through the feel. It was great to have that solid experience together, take that step forward, and get a really important result today."

In the lightweight men's single sculls, Sam Melvin (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia University/New York Athletic Club) finished fifth in the first semifinal and will race in tomorrow's B final for overall places 7-12. Melvin sat in fifth position at each of the 500-meter splits, crossing the line in an 8:04.13. France's Baptiste Savaete got out to the fast start, taking nearly four seconds on the field in the first 500 meters. Savaete continued to lead at the midway point before Austria's Lukas Reim moved into first with 500 meters to go. At the line, Poland's Artur Mikolajczewski had overtaken both Savaete and Reim, winning the race in a 7:44.19. The French sculler took second in a 7:48.40, with Austria finishing third in a 7:53.75. Melvin will take on scullers from Algeria, Iraq, Spain, South Africa, and Japan in the B final.

The women's quadruple sculls crew of Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club), Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/Sarasota Crew), and Lauren O'Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin/ARION) finished sixth the second semifinal and will race in Saturday's B final for overall places 7-12. The Americans dropped to sixth off the start and could never get on terms with the top three crews for a qualifying spot for the medal race. Great Britain walked away from the field, leading from start to finish and crossing the line in a 7:01.33. Switzerland finished second in a 7:07.48, with Australia taking third in a 7:10.32. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:33.03 and will face Ukraine, Germany, Canada, France, and Italy in the B final.

The men's quadruple sculls crew of Dominique Williams (Madison, Conn./University of Pennsylvania/Vesper Boat Club), Will Legenzowski (Vista, N.Y./Brown University/California Rowing Club), Liam Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Yale University), and Kevin Cardno (Huntsville, Ala./University of Alabama, Huntsville/Texas Rowing Center) also finished sixth in its semifinal and will race in Saturday's B final for places 7-12. The U.S. sat in fifth position off the line before dropping back to sixth in the second quarter of the race. Italy, Ukraine, and Poland jumped out to the early lead, with Germany sitting in fourth position. The top three crews continued to challenge each other at the head of the field through the middle 1,000 meters, with Poland moving into the lead as the boats passed the midway point. Over the final 500 meters, Germany was able to catch Ukraine for the all-important third qualification spot for the final. Poland won the race in a 6:16.01, with Italy taking second in a 6:17.13. Germany finished third in a 6:17.56. The U.S. crossed in a 6:33.11 and will race Ukraine, Norway, Romania, Estonia, and Australia in the B final.

PR1 men's single sculler Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/West Side Rowing Club) dominated the second C/D semifinal and will race in Sunday's C final for overall places 13-18. Mangan took nearly seven seconds on Kazakhstan's Temirkhan Daiyrbek in the opening 500 meters and ended up winning the race by almost one minute. Mangan crossed the finish in a 12:03.42, with Daiyrbek finishing in a 13:00.19. Mangan will take on scullers representing Kazakhstan, Hungary, Tunisia, South Africa, and Individual Neutral Athletes in the C final.

In the men's double sculls, Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) won the second C/D semifinal to advance to the C finals for overall places 13-18. Davison and Koszyk got off the line in third position before moving into the lead just before the midway point. The crew pulled away over the back half of the race, finishing with a time of 6:37.14, more than four seconds ahead of Sweden. The U.S. will take on Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, and Czech Republic in the C final.

Men's single sculler Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University/New York Athletic Club) finished fifth in the second C/D semifinal and will race in Sunday's D final for overall places 19-24. Putnam rowed in fifth the entire way down the course. Brazil's Lucas Verthein Ferreira won the race in a 7:34.68. Putnam clocked a 7:54.63 and will face scullers from Uruguay, Spain, Sweden, and Canada in the D final.

The lightweight men's double sculls duo of Jimmy McCullough (Philadelphia, Pa./University of Delaware/Texas Rowing Center) and Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia/Texas Rowing Center) finished fourth in the second C/D semifinal and will race in Saturday's D final for overall places 19-24. The U.S. sat in sixth for the first half of the race before moving up to fourth in the final 500 meters, coming up less than one second from reaching the C final. Greece won the race in a 6:53.81, with Turkey finishing second and Portugal third. The U.S. clocked a 6:58.03 and will race against. Ukraine, Austria, Uzbekistan, and Egypt in the D final.

The U.S. will have three additional boats racing in the medal races on Friday, as well as two boats racing in semifinals.

In the PR3 mixed double sculls, Todd Vogt (Rochester, N.Y. /Portland Boat Club) and Gemma Wollenschlaeger (St. Augustine Beach, Fla./Temple University) advanced to the final by winning their repechage on Wednesday. Vogt and Wollenschlaeger will take on crews from Great Britain, Australia, France, Brazil, and Germany in the final. Australia and France won the two heats. Australia's Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager clocked the fastest time in the opening round.

In the lightweight women's pair, the U.S. crew of Elaine Tierney (West Chester, Pa./Temple University/Penn AC) and Solveig Imsdahl (Eutin, Germany/Cornell University/Penn AC), who won silver in the event last year, finished third in the race for lanes. Italy's Elisa Grisoni and Serena Mossi easily won the race, with Germany's Eva Hohoff and Luise Munch finishing second. The three crews will race for medals on Friday.

The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Jamie Copus (Oxford, England/Oxford Brookes University/Penn AC), Casey Howshall (Philadelphia, Pa./University of Pennsylvania/Riverside Boat Club), Ian Richardson (Amesbury, Mass./University of Connecticut/Riverside Boat Club), and Bernard Aparicio (Corona, Calif./San Diego State University/San Diego Rowing Club) finished third in the race for lanes. Italy easily won the race, with Germany taking second. The three crews will race again on Friday, this time with medals on the line.

In the women's double sculls, Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/Texas Rowing Center) and Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) won the second of four heats by about a length to advance to the semifinals. Vitas and Wagner will take on Australia, France, Ireland, China, and South Africa in the first semifinal, with the top three finishers moving on to the final. Ireland is the other heat winner in the first semi.

Women's single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/Texas Rowing Center) won her quarterfinal to advance to the semifinals. She will take on scullers representing Individual Neutral Athletes, Lithuania, Australia, Austria, and Switzerland in the second semifinal, with the top three finishers advancing to the final. Kohler recorded the fastest time in the quarterfinals. Australia's Tara Rigney is the other quarterfinal winner in the second semi.

In total, the U.S. has 22 boats competing this week in Belgrade. In addition to world championships being on the line, the regatta is the first opportunity for countries to qualify boats for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Friday's racing is highlighted by the remaining semifinals and the first set of finals. Medal races will continue on Saturday and Sunday. Nearly 1,000 athletes from 74 delegations are racing in Belgrade. Italy has entered the most boats with 24, followed by Germany with 23.

The live race tracker will be available for all races on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website for all eight days of competition (local restrictions apply). Video streaming will start five minutes before the first race.

Click here for USRowing's daily coverage of the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Click here for USRowing's photo galleries. Click here for the official schedule, heat sheets, and results on worldrowing.com. Follow along with the U.S. National Team at the 2023 World Rowing Championships by using the hashtags #WorldRowingChamps and #WRCHBelgrade.

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 Centers.