Solid Early Showing from U.S. Crews in Lucerne



The United States has made quite an impression on the international stage in the early going at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, winning heats in the men's eight, men's four, and women's lightweight double—all in the fastest qualifying times—and with further solid performances from John Graves in the men's single (earning his way into the A/B Semifinals through the reps), the men's quad, and the men's lightweight four (which also earned a trip to the A/B Semi, winning the second of two reps). The men's eight made a statement with a wire-to-wire victory over the heretofore undefeated GB men's crew chock full of 2012 Olympic medalists, sending them to the reps—the American crew isn't short of 2012 Olympians, either, with Ross James, Steve Kasprzyk, Glenn Ochal, Tom Peszek, and coxswain Zach Vlahos on board. The women's double event saw two U.S. crews progress directly to the A Final, with 2012 bronze medalists Megan Kalmoe and Andrienne Martelli in one combination, and Meghan O'Leary and Ellen Tomek in the other. The women's quad were very close to the Polish crew that took the sole qualifying spot for the final in the second of two heats—the U.S. crew, which features 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Kara Kohler, 2012 gold medalists from the women's eight, Esther Lofgren and Susan Francia, as well as 2011 world silver medalist Stesha Carle, will race the rep Saturday for a shot at the finals. The Polish crew won the heat in a time of 6:16, with the U.S. crossing in 6:18 (a time that would have won the other heat by five seconds).

In the words of Ross James...

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Keep up to date with all the action on the Rotsee, and read the full write-up from the heats, via the official website and Twitter feed of World Rowing.

[*Updated Saturday 13 July at 9:49am PDT]

-RR

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