In the lightweight women’s single sculls, Jen Goldsack (Banstead, Surrey, United Kingdom) dominated her semifinal, clocking an 8:37.49 to defeat two-time defending world champion Marit Van Eupen of The Netherlands by 4.52 seconds. Racing in the first of two semifinals, Goldsack blasted off the line to take a 3.53-second lead in the first 500 meters of the race. She was never challenged for the top spot. Van Eupen finished second in an 8:42.01, while Great Britain’s Andrea Dennis finished third in an 8:42.32. In the second semifinal, Canada, Croatia and Finland advanced. The six scullers will face off in the final on Saturday.

Lightweight men’s single sculler Ivan Baldychev (Newark, Del.) finished second in his semifinal to advance to the final. Racing in the first of two heats, Baldychev sat in fifth place at the 1,000-meter mark before making a huge charge in the third quarter of the race to move into second. Germany’s Jonathan Koch won the race with a time of 7:42.76, while Baldychev finished 2.42 seconds behind in a 7:45.18. Japan’s Takahiro Suda finished third. In the other semifinal, New Zealand, Italy and The Netherlands advanced to Saturday’s final.

In the women’s single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) had little trouble advancing to the final as she finished in third place in her semifinal. Guerette sat in fourth place early in the race but moved into third by the 1,000-meter mark. The American widened her lead on the fourth-place sculler from Russia during the third 500 meters and cruised home to finish third. China’s Xiuyun Zhang passed the Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova in the final 500 meters to win the race in a time of 8:12.18. Knapkova finished second in an 8:15.00, while Guerette finished with a time of 8:16.98. In the other semifinal, Belarus, Bulgaria and New Zealand advanced to the final.

In what was an extremely tight race, Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Portia J. McGee (Seattle, Wash.) finished fourth in the second semifinal of the women’s pair, just missing a spot in the final. Mickelson and McGee waged a fierce battle with China for much of the race. The U.S. duo got off the line in third position and moved into second place as the crews passed the 1,000-meter mark. As the boats came into the final 500 meters, China took a slight advantage on the U.S. for third place, but the American crew responded and regained the lead with about 200 meters to go. However, the Chinese boat had one more push left in it and passed the U.S. in the final 100 meters to take third. Belarus won the race in a 7:45.36, with New Zealand finishing second in a 7:46.45. China crossed the finish line with a time of 7:47.09, while the U.S. finished 0.84 seconds back in a 7:47.93. Mickelson and Johnson now will race in Saturday’s B final for places 7-12.

Like the women’s pair, the men’s four of Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) also narrowly missed advancing to the final, finishing fourth in an even tighter semifinal. The U.S. boat sat in second position, just behind Great Britain and slightly ahead of the Czech Republic, for much of the race. In the final 500 meters, however, France and Italy made huge charges on the British and American crews. Great Britain barely held on for first, clocking a 6:16.44. France finished second, just 0.12 seconds behind. Italy, which finished only 0.24 seconds behind the British, edged the U.S. by 0.43 seconds for the third and final qualifying spot. The U.S. crossed the finish line in a 6:17.11 and will now race in the B final.

Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jen Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) also finished fourth in semifinals of the women’s double sculls and will now race in the B final. The duo sat in fifth position through the 1,500-meter mark before passing Italy in the final 500 meters. Great Britain won the race in a 7:30.86, passing Romania in the final 500 meters for the victory. The Czech Republic finished third to claim the last spot in the final. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:40.70.

The men’s pair of Kyle Larson (Seattle, Wash.) and Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.) finished fifth in its semifinal and will now race in the B final on Saturday. With the top three crews advancing to the final, the duo got off to a strong start, taking control of third place in the first 500 meters. Larson and Read continued to hold their position through the 1,500-meter mark. However, the crew from Great Britain used a strong charge over the last half of the race to move from fifth place to second, and the U.S. crew was unable to catch a slowing Serbia for third. The duo dropped to fifth as the crews crossed the finish line. New Zealand won the race in a 7:07.25, with Great Britain and Serbia claiming the other spots in the final. Larson and Read finished with a time of 7:16.18.

Matt Hughes (Ludington, Mich.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) finished sixth in their semifinal of the men’s double sculls. The duo sat in fifth position through the first 500 meters but was never able to challenge for a top-three position. Hughes and Stitt crossed the finish line with a time of 6:50.02. France won the race in a 6:40.47, followed by Estonia and New Zealand. Hughes and Stitt will now race in the B final.

In the adaptive events, adaptive men’s single sculler Ron Harvey (Long Beach, Calif.) finished second behind defending champion Dominic Monypenny of Australia in the second of two semifinals to advance to the final. Harvey clocked a 6:07.83 to finish just over one second behind Monypenny. Canada’s Pierre Morel finished third. In the first semifinal, Great Britain, Israel and France advanced to Saturday’s final.

In the legs-trunk-arms four with coxswain, Ryan Pawling (Jenkintown, Pa.), Jesse Karmazin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Jamie Dean (Pickerington, Ohio), Tracy Lee Tackett (Phoenixville, Pa.) and Aerial Gilbert (Tiburon, Calif.) finished second in their semifinal to advance to the final. The crew led through the first 500 meters before Germany passed them in the second half of the 1,000-meter race. Germany finished with a time of 3:52.93, while the U.S. boat clocked a 3:55.84. Italy finished third. In the other semifinal, Great Britain, Canada and The Netherlands moved on to the final.

Angela Madsen (Long Beach, Calif.) and Scott Brown (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) finished third in the second of two semifinals of the trunk-arms double sculls, qualifying for Saturday’s final. The duo clocked a 4:56.21 to finish behind Australia and Poland. Australia finished with a time of 4:38.39, while Poland crossed the line in a 4:44.02. In the other semifinal, Brazil, Italy and the Ukraine advanced.

In addition, the lightweight men’s double sculls tandem of Andrew Liverman (Oakton, Va.) and Richard Montgomery (Batavia, Ill.) finished fourth in its C/D semifinal and will now race in the D final for places 19-24. The duo sat in fourth position at each of the 500-meter splits, crossing the finish line with a time of 6:58.22. Belgium won the race.

The eight-day regatta, which serves as the primary country qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games, features 1,285 athletes racing in 474 crews from 68 nations. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed throughout the regatta at www.worldrowing.com. Live coverage of the semifinals and finals (August 30-September 2) will be streamed on the Web at www.wcsn.com.

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