U.S. Wins Gold in Men’s Four and Women’s Double, Seven Total Medals in Lucerne

The U.S. won gold in the men's four and women's double sculls leading a six-medal day at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland. In addition to the golds, the U.S. won silver in the men's eight and bronze in the women's four, lightweight women's double sculls, and women's eight on Sunday. In total, the U.S. won seven medals including yesterday's silver in the lightweight women's single sculls.
 
The men's four of Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club), and Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club) brought home the first gold medal of the day for the United States' crews. The U.S. took the lead over New Zealand in the first 500 meters of the race and never relinquished it in what was a tight race throughout. The U.S. led by less than one second at the midway point and were able to slowly extend that lead over the second half of the race. The U.S. clocked a 5:53.30 to earn the gold medal, with New Zealand taking second in a 5:55.31. Great Britain won the bronze medal in a 5:57.73.
 
"Feeling happy on the result," Best said. "I think we all were satisfied with the execution of the race. We had a very dynamic start but didn't overwork it to get the speed. We made a few calls for 'breathe' and 'relaxation' through the body, once we shifted to our base pace. We had a final step that we all felt was solid, headed into the last 300 to try and drop the speed though the line for a complete race. We know that no one really peaked for this race and are fully expecting every boat in that field to get faster. All four of us have a collective buy-in to continue pushing the training and dial in the scrutiny on our technique. This isn't the end game, and we are excited to attack the next block (of training) heading into the Olympics."
 
The U.S. won its second gold medal of the morning in the women's double sculls. Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), the reigning world championships' bronze medalists, got off the line in fifth before moving into third place and a medal spot at the midway point. China's Shuangmei Shen and Shiyu Lu took the early lead and continued to race at the front of the field at the 1,000-meter mark, with Australia's Harriet Hudson and Amanda Bateman racing in second position. The Australians moved into the lead during the third 500 meters with the U.S. taking second place as China began to falter. The U.S. continued to put pressure on Australia during the sprint for the line, overtaking the leaders to win by 0.78 seconds. Wagner and Vitas claimed the gold medal in a 6:53.15, with Australia taking second in a 6:55.54. Norway's Inger Seim Kavlie and Thea Helseth won the bronze medal in a 6:55.54.

"It feels great to have gotten our bow ahead today, and we definitely had a few things we wanted to improve upon from our earlier races," Wagner said. "I think we did a few of those things. It's nice to know things are going in the right direction but also know there's a lot of work still to do before we race in Paris. Enjoying this for now, but excited to get back to work."
 
In the final race of the regatta, the U.S. men's eight of Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club), Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), and Christian Tabash (Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota) came up just short of the gold medal in the sprint to Great Britain, winning a silver medal to cap off the weekend. Great Britain took the early lead in the first 500 meters ahead of the U.S. and Australia. The British crew continued to extend its advantage on the Americans going into the final 500 meters, with The Netherlands overtaking Australia in the third quarter of the race. As the crews came down to the wire, the U.S. kept inching closer to the British boat but ran out of water, coming up just 0.2 seconds short. Great Britain won the race in a 5:25.75, with the U.S. taking silver in a 5:25.95. The Dutch boat won bronze in a 5:27.88.

"We executed a strong race today," Quinton said. "Definitely some areas to work on, but generally we're in a good position. It's been a big week for us, and I'm super happy with how we handled each race. We're looking forward to getting back to the U.S. and digging into some hard training before Paris."
 
The U.S. women's four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) brought home the bronze medal thanks to a strong back half of the race. Great Britain and The Netherlands jumped out to the early lead ahead of the USA, China, and New Zealand. As the top two crews began to separate themselves from the field, New Zealand moved into the final medal position as the boats hit the halfway point. However, the U.S. was able to respond to New Zealand's move and pulled its bowball back into third as the crews approached 500 meters to go. Over the final sprint, the U.S. pulled away from New Zealand to secure the bronze medal. Great Britain won the race in a 6:33.01, with the Dutch boat finishing second in a 6:35.52. The U.S. crossed the line in a 6:36.98.
 
"I think it was a pretty solid race, but of course, we feel like we can gain some speed over the next few weeks leading up to Paris," Kallfelz said. "This was some great race experience to get, lining up against some of the best and getting a sense of where we stand and where we can improve. So, we're just focused on heading back to the U.S. and work on all that we've taken away from this weekend. It's a new crew and a young crew, and we are excited for the progress we can make over the next few weeks."
 
The lightweight women's double sculls tandem of Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) and Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/ USRowing Training Center – Princeton) also took home the bronze medal. Defending world champions Imogen Grant and Emily Craig of Great Britain took the early lead ahead of New Zealand's Jackie Kiddle and Shannon Cox, with Reckford and Sechser sitting in fourth behind Canada's Jennifer Casson and Jill Moffatt. Reckford and Sechser passed the Canadians in the second 500 meters as the two leading crews began to get some separation from the rest of the field. The Brits methodically extended their lead over the back half of the race to win the gold by 2.85 seconds over New Zealand in a 6:54.83. Reckford and Sechser finished third in a 7:01.37.
 
"Today's race was a very sharp reminder of just how fast the lightweight women's double field is," Reckford said. "It is good to have a race under our belts, even if the result was below the standard we hold ourselves to. Nothing went wrong in the race that I can point to right now, but we also didn't have the 'Michelle and Molly' spice that can truly make a great race. And in our field, 'good enough' will never actually be good enough. We will take a few days to unwind, get back home, and do a full post-mortem on what went well in our training, what didn't work, and what we can improve on. I know we can be faster than we were today, so we'll put our noses back to the grindstone and find that speed."
 
In the final of the women's eight, the U.S. crew of Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins (McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker (Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) finished third. Great Britain led through the first 1,500 before Canada came charging past in the last 500 meters. The Brits led Canada and the U.S. by 0.3 seconds 500 meters into the race and held a similar advantage on Canada as the crews hit the halfway point. Canada began to close the gap as the boats hit 500 meter to go before sprinting home for the gold. Canada won the race in a 6:04.47, with Great Britain finishing in a 6:05.57. The U.S. finished in a 6:08.77 to take bronze.

"I think we had a great preliminary and unfortunately fell short of our potential as a crew in the final," Bruggeman said. "I think it's great to see where the field is and testing speed with nine weeks to go until Paris. We were disappointed. You always want to win, but we will be ready to take on the challenge in the coming weeks."
 
In the final of the women's pair, Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) finished sixth. The crew dropped to the back of the field in the first 500 meters and could never challenge for a medal position. The Netherlands' Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering, the reigning world champions, led from start to finish, with Australia's Annabelle Mcintyre and Jessica Morrison, the current world silver medalists, taking second. The Dutch boat took home the gold in a 7:07.37, with Australia winning silver in a 7:11.10. Ireland's Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh passed Greece in the final back half of the race to earn the bronze medal in a 7:16.41. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:21.22.
 
In the B final of the women's single sculls, Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center - Princeton) took home the victory ahead of Lithuania's Ieva Adomaviciute. Kohler took the lead in the first 500 meters and continued to keep the field at bay the rest of the way down the course. Adomaviciute got off the line in fifth place, chasing down everyone but Kohler over the final 1,500 meters. Kohler won the race in a 7:42.39, with Adomaviciute finishing in a 7:43.81.
 
Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/Texas Rowing Center/West Side Rowing Club) won the B final of the PR1 men's single sculls to take seventh place overall. Tunisia's Maher Rahmani took the early lead before Mangan moved into first position during the second 500 meters. Mangan continued to row away from the field over the back half of the race, winning by nearly 35 seconds. Mangan clocked a 10:15.60, with Rahmani taking second in a 10:50.56.
 
In the B final of the men's pair, U.S. crews finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The USA1 crew of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and William Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) raced in third position for the first half of the race before dropping to fourth over the final 1,000 meters, while the USA2 crew of Alexander Hedge (Morristown, N.J./Columbia University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Gus Rodriguez (Rye, N.Y./Brown University/California Rowing Club) pulled away from Italy in the second half of the race to take fifth. New Zealand's Benjamin Taylor and Campbell Crouch overtook Australia's Jackson Kench and Rohan Lavery during the third quarter of the race to secure the victory. New Zealand finished with a time of 6:38.83, 1.19 seconds in front of Australia. USA1 crossed the line in a 6:41.25, with USA2 finishing in a 6:44.15.
 
In the B final of the women's pair, the USA2 duo of Emily Froehlich (Fishers, Ind./University of Texas/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Alie Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Stanford University/California Rowing Club) finished fifth for an 11th-place finish overall. Froehlich Rusher dropped to fifth off the line and could never challenge the leaders. Great Britain's Rebecca Edwards and Chloe Brew led through the 1,000-meter mark before the Czech Republic's Pavlina Flamikova and Radka Novotnikova took the lead and pulled away for the victory. The Czech crew won the race in a 7:20.06, with Spain taking second in a 7:22.40. Great Britain dropped to third. The U.S. boat finished with a time of 7:28.92.
 
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Rowing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place July 27-August 4. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are scheduled from August 28 to September 8, with Para rowing events beginning August 30. 

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