U.S. Men’s Quad Advances to Final at World Rowing Cup I

Competing in its first international regatta, the U.S. men's quadruple sculls crew laid down two strong performances on Friday to advance to the final at the first World Rowing Cup race of the season in Zagreb, Croatia.

With Sunday's weather forecast forcing World Rowing to move up the racing schedule, the Philadelphia-based 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) had to race twice on Friday – finishing second in its morning heat before repeating that performance in the afternoon repechage.

Racing in the first of two heats in a time trial format, Estonia and the U.S. posted times within 0.7 seconds of each other through the 1,500-meter mark before Estonia pulled away in the final 500 meters. Estonia and the U.S. had nearly identical times at the midway point of the race, with the Czech Republic sitting in third more than three seconds behind.

Estonia crossed the line with a time of 5:55.50, with the U.S. finishing 2.78 seconds back in a 5:58.28. The Czech Republic finished third, another five seconds back, with France finishing fourth. Estonia advanced directly to Sunday's final, with the U.S. getting a second chance to move on through the repechage.

"There was a lot of uncertainty going into the heat, being our first international race together, and also being a time trial without boats alongside us," Keen said. "But, we handled the starting alignment well, then found a good base rhythm that carried us through to a solid result. We felt a lot more confident going into the rep and knowing we could run with anybody here."

In the afternoon repechage, Germany took the early lead with the U.S. sitting just off the pace in second position, ahead of the Czech Republic, Norway and France. Germany began to build on its advantage in the second quarter of the race, as Norway tried to inch closer to the American boat. However, the U.S. responded, increasing its lead over Norway as the crews approached the final 500 meters. At the line, Germany won the race in a 6:05.41, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:09.39. Norway finished third, followed by the Czech Republic and France. The top four finishers from the repechage joined Estonia and Poland in Saturday's final.

"I wouldn't say the schedule change impacted our approach to the races," Keen said. "We came here to test ourselves and didn't go any easier because of the compressed schedule. However, it made recovery more important. We had to make sure we cooled down well and then refueled and re-hydrated before the rep, and again afterwards."

"We feel like we've already accomplished our goals for this regatta, building confidence and adapting to the logistics of FISA racing," Keen continued. "Tomorrow, we just want to have fun and see how long we can hang with the top crews, put ourselves in a position to medal if Germany, Poland, or Estonia make any mistakes."

The U.S. crew is using this regatta as a chance to test its speed ahead of the 2021 World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta scheduled for May 15-17 in Lucerne, Switzerland. By winning the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing, 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.