Former Badgers Win Medals at Rowing World Championships
September 01, 2003 | Women's Rowing
Three of the four former Badgers competing at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships on the Idroscalo in Milan, Italy this past week won medals. Brian McDonough helped the men 's four with coxswain to gold, while Ryan Torgerson and Katie Hammes aided the men 's eight and women's pair to silver medals, respectively. In total, the U.S. won six medals at this year's world championships. The event ran Aug. 24-31.
In the opening final on Sunday, McDonough's men's four with coxswain rowed to a 6:04.68 on the 2000-meter course to capture gold. The U.S. boat started behind the French, but grabbed the lead by 500 meters. The 2002 UW graduate 's crew pushed ahead by 1.56 seconds at 1000 meters, but saw Great Britain close the gap to under a second with 500 meters to go, and then to nearly even with 250 meters left. But the U.S. kicked over the final 10 strokes of the race to finish with the title. Great Britain was second in 6:05.82, while Germany was third in 6:08.90.
The men's eight final also took place on Sunday with Ryan Torgerson (Wisconsin, 1994) representing the Badgers. The country's top boat maintained second place for nearly the entire race as eventual champion Canada grabbed the lead off the line. By 1000 meters, Canada held a 2.49-second lead, but the U.S. made its push, pulling to within 2.28 seconds at 1500 meters. The U.S. continued to sprint to the line but finished 1.02 seconds behind Canada for the silver. Canada finished in 6:00.04, while the the U.S. clocked a 6:01.46 for second place. Great Britain took the bronze medal with a 6:03.45.
On Saturday, the first day of the finals, Katie Hammes (Wisconsin, 1999) finished sixth in the final of the women's pair. The pair was in fifth place at 500 meters and and could never make a move toward a medal position, finishing in a time of 7:21.94. Great Britain ended up winning the gold medal with a time of 7:04.88. Bulgaria and Romania won the silver and bronze medals in 7:05.89 and 7:06.16, respectively. Canada and China also finished in front of Hammes' U.S. pair, which clocked a 7:21.94.
Wisconsin class of 2000's Matt Smith was the fourth Badger to compete in the championships, finishing eighth in the lightweight men's four without coxswain. Smith's crew was second in the B final behind Australia. The Aussies finished in 6:04.31, to the American's 6:06.81. The American boat climbed from fifth to second over the final 200 meters for their eighth-place finish. Denmark won the gold medal, while Netherlands won silver and host country Italy took the bronze.
In addition to crowning the world's best in each of the 24 disciplines, this week's world championships served as the initial qualifier for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, as 130 of the 202 boat spots were determined. Rowers in the 14 Olympic-class boats had the chance to earn Olympic berths for their countries in each of the disciplines. The qualifier is for country slots only and does not qualify individual rowers for the Olympic Games. Hammes helped earn the United States a berth in the women's pair at the 2004 Olympics, while Torgerson and McDonough also earned their boats a spot in the 2004 games. Smith also helped the lightweight men 's four qualify for an Olympic berth.
At the world championships, the U.S. qualified a total of nine boats for the Olympics. The remaining five boats will have a second chance to qualify for the Games at next June's Olympic Qualifying Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
