U.S. Wins Two Medals at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne

Women's single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley) won a silver medal, while the women's double sculls crew of Gevvie Stone (Newton, Mass./Princeton University) and Kristina Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University) won a bronze medal, on Sunday at the 2021 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland.

With both boats having already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games earlier this year, Lucerne provided a great opportunity for the scullers to test their speed internationally for the first time this year.

"It's been a whirlwind of a week between arriving in Switzerland, getting used to the time, and racing," said Kohler immediately following today's race. "I'm really stoked to have this under my belt leading up to Tokyo."

In the final of the women's single sculls, Austria's Magdalena Lobnig used a quick start to take the early lead as five scullers sat within 1.10 seconds of each other at the 500-meter mark. In the second quarter of the race, Russia's Hannah Prakhatsen, the 2021 European Champion who sat the pace in the event all weekend, took over the top position with Kohler moving into second place.

Prakhatsen extended her advantage on the field during the third 500 meters as Kohler continued to hold second and Ireland's Sanita Puspure, the defending world champion, pulled away from Lobnig into bronze-medal position, a half-length behind Kohler. As the crews crossed the finish line, Prakhatsen won gold in a 7:28.07, with Kohler claiming silver in a 7:29.57. Puspure won bronze in a 7:30.02. Lobnig finished fourth, less than one second back.

"I'm happy with my performance, and it's definitely motivation towards Tokyo," Kohler said. "I haven't felt the best this week, but I'm happy to have raced, happy to have won a medal, and am motivated for the Games. I made some adjustments (today), pushing through the whole 2k and working on racing at a higher rating with a better rhythm. The data shows I was still under-stroking the field, so that's something to practice for the next race."

Kohler said it was great to be back racing internationally again this weekend, something that has been a long time coming.

"It's crazy to think how long it's been, but it felt natural to be back racing internationally despite some strange things about it – not having the (whole) team around, no spectators, some of the rules. It's great to be back out competing and be able to do what I train for."

In the women's double sculls, Romania's Simona Geanina Radis and Nicoleta-Ancuta Bodnar dominated the race from the start, building an open-water advantage in the first 500 meters and then extending that out to more than a length of open water at the halfway point of the race. That left the rest of the field to battle it out for the silver and bronze medals.

The Czech Republic's Kristyna Fleissnerova and Lenka Antosova used a fast start to take second position behind Romania at the 500-meter mark, with The Netherlands' Lisa Scheenaard and Roos de Jong sitting in third place and the U.S. in fifth. The Dutch crew pushed its bow-ball ahead of the Czech boat as the crews hit the midway point and began to take control of the silver-medal position. Meanwhile, Stone and Wagner were methodically closing the gap. The U.S. boat moved into a medal spot as the crews hit the final quarter of the race and continued to chase The Netherlands for second.

"We pushed ourselves in stepping it up a gear in today's final compared with our heat on Friday, which was one of our goals approaching today's race," Stone said. "That being said, like the heat, we got dropped in the first 250, and despite a solid base rhythm and negative splitting each 500 (meters), we didn't gain as much on the leaders as we hoped for."

At the line, Romania crossed with more than a length of open water in a 6:46.72. The Dutch boat held on for silver in a 6:52.55, with Stone and Wagner finishing less than one second back in a 6:53.44 to win the bronze medal.

"We are very glad that we had the opportunity to come race this world cup as we learned significantly from the regatta," Stone said. "Being a new combination, it's invaluable race experience to go through the multi-day event at this level and to identify strengths and weaknesses within the race."

In the B final of the lightweight men's double sculls, Zachary Heese (Pelham, N.Y./University of Virginia) and Jasper Liu (Phoenix, Ariz./University of Pennsylvania) finished third to take ninth place overall. Chile took the lead off the start over Poland and continued to hold the top position as the crews reached the 1,000-meter mark, with the U.S. sitting in fourth.

The second half of the race saw five crew jockeying for positioning. As Chile began to falter, Poland moved into the top position, with Switzerland and the U.S. just behind and China beginning to surge. In the final 500 meters, the Chinese crew continued its huge sprint, overtaking the rest of the field to win the race in a 6:38.83. Poland held on for second, with the U.S. passing Switzerland for third. Heese and Liu finished with a time of 6:39.42.