Women’s Four Wins Semifinal, Men’s Four and Single Advance to A Finals

The U.S. women’s four maintained their dominant form in Lithuania, winning their semifinal and clocking the fastest time recorded in the event all week. Tony Madigan and the men’s four finished third in their Semifinals, advancing to tomorrow’s A Finals.

In the women’s four, the U.S. led from start to finish, pushing their bow ball ahead in the first 500 meters. Claire Van Praagh, Lauren Dubois, Lia Nathan, and Teagan Farley found a strong rhythm that put more time between them and the rest of the field. The Romanian crew stayed close but were not able to overtake the U.S. in the sprint. The U.S. finished in a time of 6:44.32, followed by Romania in a time of 6:45.86. They will race again in the A Final tomorrow. 

Tony Madigan once again showed his trademark front-loaded racing style, launching into the lead in the first half of his men’s single sculls Semifinal. Through 1000 meters, he held Germany’s Mads Schmeid at bay, forcing the field to respond to his pace. In the third 500 meters, Germany mounted a powerful push, taking over first. Norway’s late sprint in the final 500 bumped the U.S. into third, but the crew’s time was still the third fastest overall, ensuring a place in tomorrow’s A Final.

“I went in there really with the plan to just have my best race be 1% better than I was yesterday and I really think I executed that well,” said Tony Madigan. “My dad and I set on this plan of having three specific focus points during the race. It is really eliminating all low points from the race on Wednesday, so I really feel like we went in there, did that, and had a great piece. I’m ready to just show what I can do tomorrow.”

The U.S. men’s four of John Piersma, Nolan Hamm, Will Heaton, and George Dolce faced a stacked semifinal featuring Great Britain and Italy, both of whom broke away early. The Americans settled into third by the first 500 meters and resisted a sustained challenge from Turkey through the middle of the race. In the third 500, they pressed their advantage, pulling clear to secure the last qualifying spot for the A Final. Their time of 6:12.27 was the third fastest of the day in the event.

In a semifinal dominated by Poland, the U.S. women’s quadruple sculls fought to keep pace but ultimately finished sixth. Poland’s crew set a blistering rhythm from the start, opening clear water by the halfway mark and never looking back. The Americans crossed in 6:56.90, moving them into tomorrow’s B Final for final placement.

The U.S. men’s quadruple sculls of Alexander Auth, Donovan Moses, Andrew Vizecky, and George Kapp wrapped up their regatta in the C Final, where they placed second to Greece, securing a 14th-place finish overall. The first 500 meters saw a tightly packed field, but by the 1000-meter mark, the Americans had moved into second and were steadily creating space behind them. Despite a late push, they couldn’t quite close the gap on Greece, finishing in 6:08.23.

“I’m really proud of how we did today,” said Alexanda Auth. “Originally, we were bummed to be in the C Final, but we really rallied, and we just said to ourselves, let’s attack from the start, and so from the first stroke we gave it our best effort and 1150 meters into the race we were pretty close to Greece and we’d just given everything up until that point. With the last 500 meters, we just hit a second gear and really gave it our all and had a great race. It was so fun to be in a dogfight like that. Big shout out to Coach James Konopka for getting us to this point and shout to the Deerfields boys back at home and to my parents.”

Tomorrow, the women’s quadruple sculls start the day with their B Final at 2:20 a.m. ET. The men's eight B Final goes off at 2:50 a.m. The men’s and women's four A Finals begin at 3:25 a.m., followed by the women's eight A Final at 4:50 a.m. Tony Madigan is the last of the A Finals at 5:04 a.m. All races can be tracked live, and video streaming will be available on Overnght. A detailed racing schedule can be found here. Photos of the event can be found here.

USRowing would like to thank and acknowledge key partners HUDSON, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Under 19 and Under 23 National Team. Through the partnership, HUDSON supplies racing shells for selection and training domestically, with matched shells provided internationally for racing.