U.S. Wins Two Bronze Medals on Day Two at World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals

The U.S. won bronze medals in the mixed quadruple sculls with coxswain and junior men's solo events on Saturday at the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Saundersfoot, Great Britain. The U.S. will have the chance at five more medals during Sunday's racing in Wales.

The mixed quadruple sculls with coxswain crew of Christopher Bak (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Cincinnati/Next Level Rowing/Cincinnati Rowing Club/Great Miami Rowing Club), 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.) won the B final over France to claim the bronze medal by 3.6 seconds. The U.S. boat opened the knockout round with an easy victory in the quarterfinals, finishing nearly nine seconds ahead of Egypt in a 2:38.73. In the semifinals, the defending world champions from Spain bested the U.S. by nearly 10 seconds to advance to the final. However, the U.S. came back in the bronze-medal race to take out France. The U.S. finished with a time of 2:35.17, with the French crew coming home in a 2:38.77.

"The races were hectic with the strong winds, and we had to adapt very quickly as a crew to the situation," Choi said. "The one thing that we had going for us was that our team fully trusted each other and had each other's backs no matter the circumstance. We lifted each other up and pulled for each other during every second of all three races. I could not be prouder to be a part of this team. I think it's important to recognize Marc Oria and Ben Booth, our two incredible coaches, who have taught us everything and our amazing boat handler, Chip Norton, who was indispensable in helping us win this bronze medal."

Spain would defeat New Zealand by about three steps in the sprint for the gold medal. All five U.S. rowers won their first World Rowing Beach Sprint medals. Bak will have another shot at a medal in Sunday's men's solo competition.

"It was an amazing experience. I am so grateful to be a part of such an amazing team," Hummel said. "Our hard work really showed during all of our races. I love these guys and will cherish all the memories we made. It's honestly hard to describe what all this means to me, but if I could use one word, it would be grateful. For my team, our coaches – Ben and Marc, and all our families and friends who have supported us, we couldn't have done it without them."

In the junior men's solo event, Brian O'Leary (Port Charlotte, Fla./Jesuit High School/The Stewards Foundation) won the B final over France's Evan Cailhau to claim the bronze medal. O'Leary opened Saturday's knockout round racing with a victory over Egypt's Marawan Mohamed, clocking a 2:49.02 to win by more than 36 seconds after Mohamed was assessed a 30-second penalty. In the semifinals, Great Britain's James Cox was able to best O'Leary by about 25 seconds to earn a trip to the gold-medal race, but the American was able to rebound in the bronze-medal race to reach the podium. O'Leary covered the course in a 2:38.33 to post a four-second victory over Cailhau.

"It feels pretty great, but it kind of hurts right now," O'Leary told WorldRowing.com after the race. "It's intense; I was lucky to be in the first two quarterfinals because I had more time to rest than my French competitor (Evan Cailhau)."

For O'Leary, it was his second World Rowing Beach Sprints medal after winning silver in the junior mixed double sculls last year. O'Leary will get a chance to add to his medal total tomorrow when he attempts to get back on the podium in the junior mixed double sculls with partner Britt Wotovich (Redington Beach, Fla./Berkeley Preparatory School/The Stewards Foundation).

In the junior women's solo event, Wotovich got knocked out in the quarterfinals, falling to Tunisia's Hela Belhaje Mohamed, the defending champion in the event. Wotovich advanced to the quarterfinals off a win in her repechage Friday afternoon, but Belhaje Mohamed rowed a strong race to earn an easy victory in the quarterfinal matchup. Belhaje Mohamed covered the course in a 3:26.16 to finish nearly 20 seconds ahead of Wotovich, who finished in a 3:45.60. Belhaje Mohamed continued her dominance the rest of the day, winning her semifinal by more than 30 seconds and then defending her world title by nearly 19 seconds in the final. Great Britain's Isla MacCallum won the silver medal, with Italy's Federica Chisena taking the bronze-medal race. Wotovich will race again tomorrow in the junior mixed double sculls with O'Leary.

In the women's solo event, Cassidy Norton (Hamilton, Ohio/Robert Morris University/Great Miami Crew/Next Level Rowing) advanced to the round of 16 thanks to a second-place finish in the second time trial. Egypt's Maryam Abdellatif clocked the fastest time in today's race, covering the course in a 3:11.08. Norton finished in a 3:11.51. She will take on Spain's Teresa Diaz Moreno, who was part of the gold-medal Spanish quadruple sculls crew on Saturday, in her round of 16 matchup on Sunday morning.

The U.S. will have four additional crews racing in Sunday's knockout rounds with a chance to win medals.

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 Friday's time trial to earn the top seed in the knockout rounds. Hahl and Duncomb will take on Japan's Sasa Yatsuzuka and Miyuki Yamashita, who won the silver medal last year, in their quarterfinal.

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 Friday's time trial. His next race will be in the round of 16 tomorrow morning against Portugal's Claudio Rodrigues Barbosa.

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 during Friday's time trial to advance directly to Sunday's head-to-head races. Their next race will be in the quarterfinals against Ireland.

In the junior mixed double sculls, Wotovich and O'Leary won their repechage on Friday to advance to Sunday's quarterfinals. The defending silver medalists will take on the duo from The Netherlands in the fourth of four quarterfinals. The Dutch crew finished third in the time trial.

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.