Two Boats Win Time Trials, Seven Advance to Knock-Out Rounds on Day One of World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals

The U.S. won two time trials and seven boats have advanced to the knock-out round after the first day of racing at the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Saundersfoot, Great Britain.

The junior women's double sculls crew of Annelise Hahl (Cary, N.C./Needham Broughton High School/Triangle Rowing Club) and Annalie Duncomb (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School/Great Miami Crew) took the top spot in the time trial by more than a second. Making their national team debuts, Hahl and Duncomb crossed the finish line with a time of 2:45.79 to earn the top seed in Sunday's knock-out rounds.

"I'm ecstatic about winning time trials to say the least," Duncomb said. "I'm really happy with my boat and my partner, along with our combined performance this morning. I am so excited to race again on Sunday and (hopefully) bring home gold with Annalise."

Spain finished second in at 2:47.17, followed closely by France. The U.S. will face Japan in its quarterfinal race.

"I'm pretty new to this. It's phenomenal," Hahl told WorldRowing.com. "I spent a week with (Annalie's) family training, and we grew very close. We click."

In the men's solo event, Christopher Bak (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Cincinnati/Next Level Rowing/Cincinnati Rowing Club/Great Miami Rowing Club) posted the fastest time of the day to win the time trial in a 3:03.72. Bak finished 3.47 seconds ahead of Great Britain's Gregor Hall. New Zealand's Ben Mason finished third, another four seconds behind. Bak next will race in the Round of 16 on Sunday morning.

"I am extremely happy with the solo win today," Bak said. "It's nice to know that the training I have put in has been paying off. There is still a lot more work ahead, but this race gave me a huge confidence boost going into the later rounds of the competition. As I did at trials this year, I just need to keep my head down and trust my body to do the work and not let my thoughts get in the way."

In the junior men's double sculls, the U.S. duo of Malachi Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio/Butler Technical Institute/Great Miami Crew) and Gary Rought (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School/Great Miami Crew) recorded the second fastest time of the time trials to advance directly to Sunday's head-to-head races. Anderson and Rought, who are making their national team debuts, covered the course in a 2:27.54 to finish just 0.02 second behind France's Zakaria Bouzid-Daho and Louis Barbara. Their next race will be in the quarterfinals.

"In my experience, performing your best in the time trial is the most important thing," Anderson said. "Placing high in the ranks not only assures an athlete that they can compete with their competition, but it can also give them more rest in a high turnover, high-pace race bracket."

Last year, the U.S. mixed quadruple sculls with coxswain crew won the bronze medal. This year, an entirely new lineup will try to improve on that performance. In Friday's time trial, the crew of Bak, Morgan Hummel (Chesterfield, Mo./The Ohio State University/Next Level Rowing), Jeni Sorli (Red Lodge, Mont./University of Colorado/Riverside Boat Club/Next Level Rowing). Kory Rogers (The Woodlands, Texas/Temple University/Parati Competitive Rowing), and Peter Choi (Cupertino, Calif./Emory University/New York Athletic Club/USRowing Training Center-Boston/Community Rowing, Inc.) clocked the third fastest time to advance to Saturday's head-to-head racing. The U.S. finished with a time of 2:21.48, a little less than two seconds behind the top crew from France. The French boat finished with a time of 2:19.70, while the reigning world champions from Spain finished second in a 2:21.15. The U.S. will next face Egypt in the quarterfinals.

"The quad is a blast to race," Bak said. "Having other teammates to pull for is extremely motivating. Every time I get in the boat with Peter, Kory, Morgan, and Jeni, I want to pull as hard as I can for them. They are amazing teammates, and I can't wait to see how racing pans out tomorrow."

In the junior men's solo event, Brian O'Leary (Port Charlotte, Fla./Jesuit High School/The Stewards Foundation) finished fourth in his opening time trial and came back to win his repechage to move on to Saturday's quarterfinals. O'Leary clocked a 2:47.94 in the time trial to finish just under three seconds behind Great Britain's James Cox's winning time of 2:45.00. In his afternoon repechage, O'Leary easily bested Portugal's Tomas Neves, winning by more than 23 seconds in a 3:14.09. O'Leary will now race Egypt's Marawan Mohamed in the quarterfinals.

In the junior women's solo event, Britt Wotovich (Redington Beach, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School/The Stewards Foundation) finished eighth in the opening time trial in a 3:21.41 but rebounded in the afternoon repechage to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. Wotovich, who finished fourth in the event last year, clocked a 3:17.69 to finish more than four seconds ahead of Canada's Alexandra Duggan in the repechage. Wotovich will take on Tunisia's Hela Belhaje Mohamed, the defending champion, in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

In the junior mixed double sculls, Wotovich and O'Leary finished sixth in the opening time trial and came back to win their repechage to advance to Sunday's quarterfinals. The duo, which won a silver medal in the event at last year's World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, clocked a 2:38.66 in the time trial to finish a little less than seven seconds behind the winning French crew of Aurore Combes and Aurelien Martin. In the repechage, Wotovich and O'Leary defeated Ireland's Kate Verling and Jack O'Donovan by more than 12 seconds. The U.S. finished with a time of 2:54.24.

In the women's solo event, Cassidy Norton (Hamilton, Ohio/Robert Morris University/Great Miami Crew/Next Level Rowing) finished 11th in the opening time trial and now will race in tomorrow's second time trial for the chance to move on to the knock-out round. With the top eight moving directly into the Round on 16, Norton clocked a 3:48.29. She will need a top-eight finish in the second time trial in order to advance. Great Britain's Helen Glover, a two-time Olympic champion in the women's pair, won the time trial in a 3:25.58, followed closely by New Zealand's Emma Twigg, the reigning Olympic champion in the women's single sculls, in a 3:25.62.

In the mixed double sculls, Elizabeth Hinley (McHenry County, Ill./University of North Texas/KMF Performance) and John Olbrys (Arlington, Va./United States Coast Guard Academy/Potomac Boat Club) were knocked out of the competition on Friday afternoon during the second time trial. Hinley and Olbrys finished 14th in their opening race after a 10-second penalty dropped them from seventh position. With the top eight to advance from the second time trial, Hinley and Olbrys finished ninth, 1.32 seconds from advancing.

Saturday's racing features the medal rounds in the junior men's solo, junior women's solo, mixed quadruple sculls with coxswain, and mixed double sculls events. Sunday's racing features the medal rounds in the junior men's double sculls, junior women's double sculls, junior mixed double sculls, men's solo, and women's solo events. In total, 254 athletes in 147 boats from 27 countries are competing in Wales.

USRowing's coverage of the event can be found here. 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, and live video streaming will be available on Saturday and Sunday on World Rowing's YouTube Channel.

Join the conversation by using the hashtags #WRBeachSprints, #WRBSF, and #BringOnTheWaves.