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Now or Never for U.S. Crews at Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta

May 04, 2012

BELGRADE, Serbia – The heat is on for crews competing at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta on Lake Sava in Belgrade, Serbia this weekend. Finals are set for Saturday in four adaptive events, with the top two boats in each category earning Paralympic qualification.

Two U.S. crews are scheduled to race in the finals – arms and shoulders women’s single sculler Dana Fink (Atlanta, Ga.) and the trunk and arms mixed double sculls crew of Rob Jones (Lovettsville, Va.) and Oksana Masters (Buffalo, N.Y.).

“My goal is to make top two here in the finals as it is the last opportunity to qualify for London,” said Fink. “There is definitely some tough international competition, which is really exciting because it shows how far adaptive rowing has come in such a short time. At this point, we have all put in the work over the last few months and for me it is just about performing as I know I can."

Fink finished second in her repechage Friday to earn a spot in the final. Coming off of Thursday’s third-place finish in the heats, the U.S. sculler covered the 1,000-meter course in 6:27.34. South Africa’s Sandra Khumalo won the race in 6:14.57. Joining them in Saturday’s final, scheduled for 5:50 p.m. local time, will be Russia, Canada, Japan and Hungary.

In the trunk and arms double, Jones and Masters are the top seed going into the final. The duo won Thursday’s race for lanes and will line up with Argentina, The Netherlands, Brazil and Russia in the final, scheduled for 6:14 p.m. local time.

For more information and a live results viewer, visit www.worldrowing.com.

About USRowing
USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports, Vespoli, WinTech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, PowerHTV and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners ANXeBusiness Corp, Voxer, EZ Dock, EMCVenues, The Perfect SNAQUE and INDi. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. USRowing has created The Row to London to engage sponsors leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games, with proceeds going to help ensure the U.S. team’s success. Opportunities also exist to partner with America Rows – supporting diversity initiatives and adaptive programs. For more information, please contact Beth Kohl at beth@usrowing.org.

Allison Frederick

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