Video of the Week: The Men's Pair at World Cup II in Lucerne, 2012



This week's video comes to us from Lucerne, and features a great early-season match-up between Beijing silver medalists Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen of Canada, and triple world champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond of New Zealand. Racing at the 2012 USRowing Olympic Rowing (Qualified Small Boats) Trials begins tomorrow, with a chance to race the above crews in the men's pair at the Olympics this summer in London. Further places on the U.S Olympic Team are up for grabs in the women's pair and men's single. Among those entered in the men's pair event (by far the largest number of entries) are Jamie Koven, who is partnered with Mike Blomquist, as well as Jason Read, teaming up with 2011 U.S. men's eight stroke Nareg Guregian. Mike Gennaro and Ty Otto are back in the pair together after a victory in the Pan American Games last summer (the duo doubled-up and took gold in the eight as well), and Silas Stafford (stroke of the U.S. men's four in 2010) and Tom Peszek have put together an entry, while the 2010 U.S. men's pair from Karapiro–Ryan Monaghan and Deaglan McEachern–will be back in action once again on Mercer Lake, in a talented and deep field. The racing will be included in NBC Sports Network's broadcast of the 2012 Olympic Trials on June 23, 6-7:30pm EDT. A tentative schedule and results (as they become available) can be found on the official website of USRowing.

Also on tap for this week is World Rowing Cup III, which features a great deal of London athletes in what will serve for many as their final tune-up before the Games begin on July 27th. Several of the crews also raced at the Holland Beker regatta over the weekend–follow the links for full results via the event website and a recap of the regatta from World Rowing.

Still to come this week: The 2012 USRowing Youth Nationals, Recap and Review (time to take a second look at our comprehensive picks), and a preview of the final World Cup in Munich.

-RR

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