BEIJING, China – The junior men’s eight and junior women’s pair advanced to the finals, while junior women’s single sculler Suzanne Maddamma advanced to the semifinals, on Thursday to highlight the second day of competition for the United States at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships.
Anthony Altimari (Huntington, N.Y.), Ian Silveira (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Chris Bowman (Wilmette, Ill.), Nick Jordan (Princeton, N.J.), T.J. Laher (Orinda, Calif.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.), Ian Winthrop (Roxbury, Conn.), Chris Lutz (Fairless Hills, Pa.) and Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) finished second in their repechage, or second-chance race, of the junior men’s eight to advance to Saturday’s final. The crew got off the line in fifth position before slowly working its way up to second place. China won the race in a 5:53.87, with the U.S. finishing in a 5:59.47. Italy placed third, just 0.07 seconds behind. Romania took fourth to claim the last qualifying spot. The four crews join heat winners New Zealand and Germany in the final.
The junior women’s pair of Alex Japhet (Edmonds, Wash.) and Cara Linnenkohl (Redmond, Wash.) also finished second in its repechage to earn a spot in Saturday’s final. With the top two finishers advancing, the duo sat in second position the entire way down the course. Bulgaria led the race from wire-to-wire, recording a time of 7:39.45. Japhet and Linnenkohl finished with a time of 7:41.82, less than one second ahead of a charging South Africa. In the first repechage, China and Portugal took the top two spots. The four crews join heat winners Romania and Germany in the final.
Suzanne Maddamma (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished second in her repechage, earning a spot in Friday’s semifinals. Maddamma got off the line slowly, sitting in fifth position at the 500-meter mark. However, the two-time junior national team member slowly rowed through the field, finishing second behind Sweden’s Maria Wilgotsson. Maddamma finished with a time of 8:05.30, 4.55 seconds behind Wilgotsson’s time of 8:00.75.
In the junior women’s four, the crew of Celia Kohl (Wilton, Conn.), Martha Kuzzy (Minneapolis, Minn.), Rachel Ogundiran (Bowie, Md.) and Cristina Felix (San Marino, Calif.) finished third in its repechage and will now race in Saturday’s B final for places 7-9. Racing in the first of two repechages, the quartet sat in third position the entire way down the course, finishing 5.51 second behind first-place Italy. The U.S. crossed the finish line in a 6:58.34. Italy won the race in a 6:52.83, while New Zealand finished second in a 6:54.61 to earn the last qualifying spot for the final.
Cameron Klotz (St. Louis, Mo.), Patrick Williams (San Mateo, Calif.), Chris Gear (Leesburg, Va.) and Chris Chang (Hillsborough, Calif.) finished fourth in their repechage of the junior men’s four and will now race in the C final for places 13-15. The quartet sat in fourth position the entire way down the course. With the top three finishers qualifying for the semifinals, Bulgaria won the race with a time of 6:19.24, followed by Serbia and Denmark. The U.S. crossed the finish line in a 6:28.53.
In the repechage of the junior men’s four with coxswain, Steve Matyas (Turnersville, N.J.), Matt Fluhr (Christchurch, Va.), Rob Poole (Coronado, Calif.), Kevin Kennedy (Moorestown, N.J.) and Jeremy Bernstein (Oakland, Calif.) finished fifth and will now race in the B final for places 7-8. The crew got off to a solid start and sat in third position at the 500-meter mark. However, the U.S. dropped to fifth in the second quarter of the race and could not chase down the Ukraine for the fourth and final qualifying spot. Italy won the race in a 6:27.11, with Australia finishing second in a 6:28.26. New Zealand and the Ukraine finished third and fourth, respectively, also advancing to the final. The U.S. clocked a 6:31.18 for fifth place.
In the junior men’s single sculls, James Hills (Kenmore, N.Y.) finished fifth in his quarterfinal and will now race in Friday’s C/D semifinals, which will determine the scullers who go on to the C final for places 13-18 and the D finals for places 19-24. Hills got off the line in third position but quickly fell to fifth place. Greece’s Stergios Papachristos won the race in a 7:05.22. Hills finished with a time of 7:18.04.
In the junior women’s double sculls, Erin Crawford (Tempe, Ariz.) and Taylor Fries (Westport, Conn.) finished fifth in their quarterfinal and will now race in the C/D semifinals. The duo sat in fifth position the entire way down the course, unable to challenge for a top three position and a spot in the A/B semifinals. Norway won the race with a time of 7:17.04. The U.S. finished in a 7:32.96.
In the junior men’s quadruple sculls, Ben Ludlow (Cincinnati, Ohio), Kynan Reelick (Morris, Conn.), Jason Koch (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and Greg Magarian (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished fifth in their repechage and will now race in the C/D semifinals. China won the race in a 6:08.46, followed by Italy, Portugal and Denmark. The U.S. crossed the finish line in a 6:35.13.
The regatta, which is serving as the test event for the 2008 Olympic venue, runs through Saturday and features more than 600 athletes from 49 countries. Semifinals take place on Friday, with finals being held on Saturday. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed throughout the regatta at www.worldrowing.com.
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