U.S. Men’s Quad Ready to Race at First World Rowing Cup in Croatia

The U.S. men's quadruple sculls crew will get a chance to test its speed starting Friday at the first World Rowing Cup race of the season in Zagreb, Croatia.

Fresh off its victory at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing, the Philadelphia-based crew of Charles Anderson (Upper Darby, Pa./Temple University), Justin Keen (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn State University), Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University) will race against international crews for the first time ahead of the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta scheduled for mid-May.

Racing in the first of two heats, the U.S. will take on crews from the Czech Republic, Estonia, and France on Friday at 12:12 p.m. local time. The two heat winners will advance to Sunday's final, with the remaining crews heading to Saturday's repechage.

"We are excited to race against a good mix of qualified and non-qualified crews," Keen said. "Our focus points are the bookends of the race. We've spent months developing a strong middle 1,000, but we need to get to the 500 (meter mark) two to three seconds faster. We also want to test our sprint after three consecutive days of racing, like we will have in Lucerne."

By winning the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing, the crew earned the right to race at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta May 15-17 for a chance to make the U.S. Olympic Team. A top-two finish at that regatta would secure a spot in Tokyo.

"In addition to those tactical pieces, we hope to take away greater confidence in our speed and adapt to the logistics and feel of European racing, as we head into the qualifier in two weeks," Keen said.

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.