Men’s Quad Wins Heat at World Rowing Coastal Championships in Saundersfoot

Both U.S. men's quadruple sculls with coxswain crews advanced to the A final, highlighting Saturday's racing at the 2022 World Rowing Coastal Championships in Saundersfoot, Great Britain. In addition, two U.S. boats won their B finals today in Wales. The U.S. will have five boats rowing in medal races on Sunday.

Racing in the first heat of the men's quadruple sculls with coxswain, the Next Level Rowing crew of Ben Booth, Marc Oria, Chris Bak, Kory Rogers, and Peter Choi easily won the race, finishing nearly 23 seconds ahead of the German crew from Stuttgarter RG to advance to the medal race. The Next Level Rowing crew finished with a time of 16:46.86, with Stuttgarter finishing in a 17:09.78. The New Orleans Rowing Club entry of John Huppi, Philip Hoyle, William Meeker, Alex Delsordo, and Whitney Powell finished seventh in the same heat, also advancing to tomorrow's A final. New Orleans clocked a 17:51.38.

"The quad went really well today," Bak said. "We were able to get out in front and stay in control of the race. We were able to hold off Spain and Germany into the first buoy and continue to take open water on them. It was nice to see that our hard work has been paying off. We are looking forward to having a good scrap in the A final tomorrow."

Next Level Rowing's Cameron Kumagai and Cassidy Norton advanced to the A final of the mixed double sculls thanks to a ninth-place finish in the first heat. Kumagai and Norton finished in a 19:20.52, securing a spot in tomorrow's medal race. Nelson Rowing Club's Emma Twigg and Ben Mason of New Zealand easily won the race in an 18:13.50, finishing more than 29 seconds ahead of the Irish crew from Loughros & Killorglin Rowing Club. Twigg is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the women's single sculls.

In the women's double sculls, Bair Island Aquatic Center's Amanda Hawkins and Athena Bradley finished 10th in their heat and will now race in tomorrow's B final. With nine to advance to the A final, Hawkins and Bradley finished with a time of 22:30.53. Ireland's Dineka Maguire and Niamh Doogan of Kincasslagh Rowing Club won the race in a 19:53.26 ahead of Italy's Circolo Canottieri Saturnia A.S.D crew.

The U.S. also had three boats racing in B finals on Saturday afternoon, with two of them coming home with victories.

In the women's solo event, Hannah Huppi won the race with a time of 23:52.40, finishing nearly 19 seconds ahead of Ruderclub Allemannia Hamburg's Carina Hein. Park City Rowing Academy's Dayna Deuter finished fourth, clocking a 24:34.90.

Next Level Rowing's Gary Rought and Malachi Anderson won their B final in the men's double sculls, finishing 9.70 seconds ahead of Cian Sweeney and Michael O'Boyle of Ireland's Loughros Point RC.

For today's complete results, click here.

Sunday's racing will feature the remaining B finals and the A finals. In addition to the crews from today's heats that will be racing tomorrow, the U.S. will have two women's quadruple sculls with coxswain crews racing in Sunday's A final.

In total, more than 540 rowers in 235 boats from 23 countries are competing in Wales. The schedule, start lists, results, and live event updates will be available on www.worldrowing.com. Live audio will be available for all races on www.worldrowing.com, but there will be no live video streaming for the event.