Men’s Quad Finishes Fourth at World Rowing Cup I in Zagreb

In what was the closest finish of the day, the U.S. men's quadruple sculls crew missed the medal stand by a bow-ball, finishing just behind Germany in the final at the first World Rowing Cup race of the season in Zagreb, Croatia.

Racing in its first international regatta, the crew of 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) got off the line in fifth position in what was a tightly contested, six-boat race over the first half of the course. While the U.S. still sat in fifth at the 1,000-meter mark, the crew was only a deck out of a medal spot as it entered the third quarter of the race.

As Estonia and Poland began to put some distance between the rest of the field, the American boat slowly chipped away at Germany's lead on the bronze-medal position, first pulling ahead of the Czech Republic before inching into third place as the crews passed the 1,500-meter mark. The U.S. continued to hold the bronze-medal position into the final few strokes, as Germany made its final push. At the line, the German crew edged out the Americans in a photo finish by 0.11 seconds.

"Always, in hindsight, there are things you can improve on, but we thought we executed the race very well," Anderson said. "We definitely have some things we can improve on for the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta."

Estonia won the race in a time of 5:48.03, with Poland finishing one second behind in a 5:49.03. Germany crossed the line in a 5:49.65, with the U.S. finishing in a 5:49.76. The Czech Republic and Norway took fifth and sixth, respectively.

"The biggest takeaway for us is that we have the speed to compete internationally with the top crews," Anderson said. "We still have some areas to fine tune to find more speed. We're excited to compete at the final Olympic qualifier."

The U.S. crew was using this regatta as a chance to test its speed ahead of the 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, which begins two weeks from today. By winning the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing last month, the boat earned the right to race at the qualifier for a chance to make the U.S. Olympic Team. A top-two finish at that regatta would secure a spot in Tokyo.

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.