Four U.S. Crews Advance on Day Four of Rowing at the Olympics
The U.S. men’s double sculls and women’s four advanced to the finals, while the women’s single sculls advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Racing in the second semifinal of the men’s double sculls, Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) finished second to advance to Thursday’s race for the medals. Davison and Koszyk got off the line in fourth position before moving into second place in the second quarter of the race, just behind Germany’s Marc Weber and Jonas Gelsen and just ahead of Ireland’s Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, who won bronze at last year’s world championships.
“We talked it back last night and this morning,” said Koszyk about the Germans’ quick start and if it changed their plan. “We have our potential speed and don’t care what anyone else is doing. We’re going to make sure we’re hitting 100 percent of our potential. We’re not going to get flustered by what other people are doing. We believe that we are good enough to make it to the final.”
The Irish crew moved into the lead in the third 500 meters with the U.S. keeping pace as both crews overtook Germany. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Jordan Parry and Robbie Manson were keeping the pressure on the leaders, sitting just over a half-second back of a qualifying spot as the crews hit 500 meters to go. Over the final 500, Ireland was able to inch away from the U.S. to win by just over a second, while Davison and Koszyk were able to hold off New Zealand to take second. Germany dropped off the pace and finished fourth. Ireland crossed the line with a time of 6:13.14, followed by the U.S. in a 6:14.19. New Zealand took third in a 6:14.30. The three crews will be joined by the Netherlands, Spain, and Romania in Thursday’s final. New Zealand won the first semifinal in a 6:13.60. This is the first time the U.S. men’s double has made the Olympic final since 2004 in Athens.
“Everything is going to plan,” Davison said. “Everything we did in the heat went to plan. Everything we did today went to plan, and we’re going to keep pressing forward in the final.”
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past in my rowing career getting sucked into the race and getting distracted by what everyone else is doing, so my goal today was just to keep my head down and listen to what Sorin was telling me and when I needed to do it. I knew if we did that, we’d put ourselves in the best position.”
Women’s single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), a three-time Olympian who finished fourth in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, had no trouble advancing to the semifinals, finishing second in her quarterfinal behind Australia’s Tara Rigney, the 2023 World Championships’ bronze medalist in the event. With three to advance, Rigney, Kohler, and Bulgaria’s Desislava Angelova (fifth at last year’s world championships) took control of the qualifying spots in the first 500 meters, a gap that they would continue to extend all the way down the 2,000-meter course. Rigney took a two-second lead in the opening quarter of the race, ahead of Kohler with Angelova another 0.69-seconds behind. Rigney extended her advantage on Kohler to nearly three seconds at the halfway point, with Kohler moving about a length ahead of Angelova. The three scullers were never challenged over the back half of the race, with Rigney crossing the finish line in a 7:30.57. Kohler took second in a 7:34.96, with Angelova earning the other spot in the semifinals with a time of 7:41.25.
“Got the job done and on to the A/B semis,” Kohler said. “That’s where the real games start, trying to get into the medal round. This is where I fell a little short in Tokyo, so that will be on my mind for sure. It’s a once in a four-year opportunity, so everyone is going to be racing at their best, so going in you really can’t underestimate anyone, including myself.”
The women’s four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) won their repechage to advance to Thursday’s final. With two to advance to the medal race, the U.S. boat got off the line in third position behind China and Ireland before moving into the second spot by the 1,000-meter mark. China and the U.S. walked away from Ireland in the third 500 meters to secure the qualifying spots, with the Americans trailing by less than one second heading into the final 500 meters. The U.S. was able to power through China in the sprint, clocking a 6:32.48 to win by 1.12 seconds. The U.S. and China will race against Great Britain, the Netherlands, Romania, and New Zealand in the final.
“I feel like we were pretty internal this race,” Mazzio-Manson said. “I think we wanted to make some changes from our heat, and I think that we were more focused on the type of race that we wanted to have inside the gunnels as opposed to what was going on around us.”
First-time Olympian Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) just missed a spot in the semifinals, finishing fourth in the second quarterfinal by less than one second. With three to advance, Plihal got off the line in fifth position before moving into fourth at the midway point, a little over one second off a qualification spot. Germany’s Oliver Zeidler, who won the world title in 2022 and 2023, grabbed the lead off the start with Belgium’s Tim Brys and Romania’s Mihai Chiruta battling for second and third positions. During the third quarter of the race, the top four boats maintained their margins, with no one being able to really extend their advantages heading into the final 500 meters. In the final sprint, Plihal made his charge on Chiruta but came up just short of the Romanian. Zeidler won the race in a 6:45.32. Brys took second with a time of 6:46.26, with Chiruta finishing third in a 6:46.32. Plihal crossed in a 6:47.03 and now will race in tomorrow’s C/D semifinals.
“I was a little bit slower to the (1,000 meters) than those guys. I think they had a better first half,” Plihal said. “I just tried to hunt them down. It was definitely the fastest race I’ve ever put together, so despite not making it to the top 12 A/B semis, I’m proud of going sub 6:50 for the first time, and I would say that’s the best race I’ve put together, so there’s a silver lining in that, and we can still fight for that 13th place.”
In the women’s double sculls, Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota) finished fifth in their semifinal and now will race in the B final for overall places 7-12. In what turned into a four-boat race for the three qualifying spots, the U.S. duo dropped to fifth off the line and was never able to work their way back into contention. Great Britain’s Rebecca Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne took the lead off the start ahead of Australia’s Harriet Hudson and Amanda Bateman. The Brits continued to lead through the 1,500-meter mark before Romania’s Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, the defending Olympic champions and 2023 world champs, inched their bowball ahead in the final 250 meters. Romania won the race in a 6:51.41, with Great Britain taking second in a 6:51.82. Norway’s Inger Seim Kavlie and Thea Helseth passed the Aussies in the sprint to take third in a 6:52.47. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:04.12 and will face Australia, China, Ireland, Italy, and Czech Republic in Thursday’s B final.
“I think that we will be ready to race on Thursday,” Wagner said. “Right now, this feels pretty devastating and nothing that we did in training predicted that this was what should happen. I wish there was an explanation because that would make sense in my mind. We both have done a lot to get here, and this was not the result that we wanted, but it’s okay to not achieve your goals sometimes and be upset about it.”
Four additional U.S. crews will be in action on Wednesday including the men’s pair, women’s pair, and lightweight women’s double sculls, which will be racing in semifinals.
The U.S. men’s pair of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and Billy Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) advanced to the semifinal off of a third-place finish in the repechage. The duo will take on Lithuania, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, and Switzerland in Wednesday’s first semifinal, with the top three finishers advancing to the final. Spain and Croatia won their heats, while South Africa finished second in its heat.
In the women’s pair, Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) advanced to the semifinals thanks to a third-place finish in their heat. The duo will take on Spain, Chile, Lithuania, Australia, and Ireland in the second of two semifinals, with the top three finishers advancing to the final. Australia won its heat, while Ireland and Lithuania were second in their heats.
In the lightweight women’s double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/Cambridge Boat Club) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) finished second in the second of three heats to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals. The duo will take on crews from Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Poland, and Argentina in the first of two semifinals. Great Britain, the defending world champions, won its heat as did New Zealand. The top three finishers will move on to the final.
The U.S. women’s quadruple sculls crew of Lauren O’Connor (Belleville, Wis./University of Wisconsin/ARION), Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/ University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Emily Delleman (Davenport, Iowa/Stanford University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Grace Joyce (Northfield, Ill./University of Wisconsin/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) will take on Australia and Romania in the B final for overall places 7-12. The U.S. finished fifth in the repechage.
Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 3. Medal races in the men’s and women’s double sculls and fours will be held on Thursday, along with semifinals in the singles and repechages in the eights. Click here for a complete race schedule.
In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics including the women’s single sculls, men’s single sculls, women’s double sculls, men’s double sculls, lightweight women’s double sculls, women’s quadruple sculls, women’s pair, men’s pair, women’s four, men’s four, women’s eight and men’s eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.
Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.
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