U.S. crews finished second and third in the final of the women’s pair. The USA 1 entry of Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) finished second in a 7:10.49, followed by the USA 2 boat of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) in a 7:11.97. The crews sat in fourth and fifth place, respectively, at the 1,000-meter mark before passing Canada and Great Britain in the last half of the race. Australia’s Sarah Cook and Kim Crow crossed the finish line with a time of 7:09.39 to win the gold medal. Canada’s Jane Rumball and Darcy Marquardt, the defending world champions, finished fourth with a time of 7:12.38. The third U.S. pair of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) won the B final for a seventh-place overall finish. The duo clocked a 7:23.00 to defeat China by 3.15 seconds.

In the women’s single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) brought home the bronze medal. After getting off the line in third place, the American sat in second position as the scullers passed through the 1,500-meter mark, four seconds behind Belarus’ Ekaterina Karsten and two seconds ahead of the Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova. However, Knapkova, the defending world championships silver medalist, was able to pass Guerette in the final few strokes to win the silver medal. Guerette finished with a time of 7:31.68, 0.68 seconds behind Knapkova. Karsten, the defending world champion, won the race in a 7:28.39. France’s Sophie Balmary finished fourth, nearly six seconds behind Guerette.

Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) narrowly missed a spot on the medal stand in the women’s double sculls after finishing fourth by 0.09 seconds. The duo led at the 500-meter mark and held the second position behind China as the crews reached the final quarter of the race, just ahead of Germany’s second boat. The American crew battled Germany 2 throughout the final 500 meters. However, Germany 1 used a late charge to pass both crews at the line. China finished first with a time of 7:09.42. Germany 1 finished second in a 7:13.31, with Germany 2 crossing the line 0.13 seconds behind in a 7:13.44. Piotrowski and Kaido finished 0.09 seconds further back in a 7:13.53.

The lightweight men’s four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) and Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) finished sixth in the final, 3.76 seconds behind the winners from China. In what was a tight race the entire way down the course, China came back on Italy 1 in the final 500 meters to earn the victory. The Chinese crew clocked a 6:03.13 to finish 0.58 seconds ahead of Italy 1. Great Britain finished third in a 6:04.74, with the Netherlands finishing fourth in a 6:06.02. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:06.89, 0.22 seconds behind fifth-place Italy 2.

More than 880 athletes from 46 nations competed in Austria. Complete results can be accessed at www.worldrowing.com. The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. The remaining two stages will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (June 22-24), and Lucerne (July 13-15).

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