Badger duo claim silver at world row championship
August 30, 2009 | Men's Rowing
Five U.S. crews won medals Sunday, including a pair of former Badgers, who took silver in the lightweight men's eight, as the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland completed its final day.
The lightweight men's eight, with Badgers Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.) and Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.), won its heat last Sunday to advance directly to the final.
Today, the U.S. boat was in fourth place at the 1,000-meter mark before making its move. Over the third 500 meters, the U.S. walked through Japan and Netherlands into the second-place position before sprinting home for silver in a 5:37.15. Italy led the race from wire-to-wire, winning gold in 5:33.92, with Netherlands in 5:39.69 for the bronze medal.
'It was a good race,' said coxswain Kerry Quinn. 'The conditions were tough; it was choppy at the start, but we stayed composed.'
'We knew we had a lot of horsepower going for us, and we wanted the most powerful third 500 that we could,' said rower Matt Muffelman, the lone returning member of last year's world-champion crew. 'This is pretty much everybody 's first world championships. We're planning to continue training in Oklahoma City after this and hopefully, keep this group together for the next few years. '
