Blogging the U23 World Rowing Championships Day 4

The U.S. Under-23 crew received three silver medals today at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. Our hero, Pete Orlando, and his crew in the lightweight quadruple sculls placed third in the B-level finals, or 9th overall.

In a race that saw many lead-changes, the U.S. quad was notably consistent. Never more than two seconds behind the lead boat, they pulled near even splits: 1:30, 1:30, 1:32, 1:30. That last split especially helped them pull ahead of Spain in the last 500 meters as Spain pulled roughly a 1:32 for fourth. Denmark finished first in a 6:00.76. Sweden was just 0.14 seconds behind in a 6:00.90. U.S.A. finished third with a 6:02.72.

It's been a long journey for Pete and his buddies. I'm sure they will be updating their blog soon. Congratulations on racing with the world's finest young rowers!

Othere U.S. News
After sitting third through the first half of the race, the defending champion U.S. women's eight charged ahead in the second 1,000 meters to beat out Poland and challenge Great Britain. Their sprint was not quite enough, though, and they finished 1.09 behind Great Britain, which posted a 6:20.71. Poland came in third.

The lightweight women's quadruple sculls was consistent throughout, with Germany winning, USA coming in second and Australia pulling in third.

After being down for the first 1,500 meters, the U.S. men's four charged through their sprint to improve from fourth place to second. New Zealand finished first and Germany third.

After a close first 500, the field separated in the women's four, seeing team USA struggle for position but ultimately fall to sixth. Belarus came in first, Italy second and New Zealand third.

B-level finals:
The lightweight men's four came in fourth in the B-level final, or 10th overall.

The lightweight women's double sculls finished sixth in the B-level final, or 12th overall

The women's single sculls came in second in the B-level final, or eighth overall.

In other news...
The men's eight final was remarkable in that the field was more condensed at the 1,000 meter mark than they were at the 500! (1.75 second spread from 1st to 6th vs. 3.99 seconds). The incredibly close field saw Poland jump to the lead for its only first-place finish. Poland turned a .64 deficit on Great Britain at 1,000 meters into a .70 second lead by 1,500. Poland and Germany then executed blistering sprints to edge out Britain, which finished third in 5:35.25. Germany finished second in 5:34.11 and Poland first with a 5:32.77.

World Rowing Web site here.
Full results from World Rowing here [.pdf].
USRowing will most likely update results Monday.