Rowing Finals, Day 1
March 18, 1995
Laguna de los Padres, Mar del Plata, Argentina
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US Crews Capture 3 Gold and 6 Silver at Laguna de los Padres; Lightweight
Sculler Decision Reversed and Flemer Added to Lane 7 for Sunday Final
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Mar del Plata, Argentina
In the first day of finals in the rowing competition at Laguna de los
Padres, the US crews left with the most hardware of any country -- six
silver
and three gold medals, a total of nine from the 11 events contested today.
Argentina captured four gold, but only seven overall. Three US men's
sweep
(one oar) boats earned gold medals. The open four without coxswain,
lightweight eight and lightweight pair without coxswain all won. Further
celebration surrounded the US lightweight sculler who protested the
results of
his race Thursday after a branch caught on his boat fin impeded his
performance. Initially, the jury denied his protest, but upon further
review
has added him to the final in lane 7.
The lightweight pair of Christopher Kerber, Collingswood, N.J., and Andrew
Finch, Boston, Mass., overcame a poor start where they were fifth off the
line
and used short five stroke "punches" to work their way through the
competition. For Kerber, the victory was all the more meaningful because
although he was a gold medalist at the 1991 Pan Am Games and at the 1993
World
Championships,he did not earn a seat on the 1994 National Team. Bruce
Konopka, Philadelphia, Pa., coaches the pair who row out of Vesper Boat
Club
in Philadelphia, the club of past USOC president, John Kelly, Jr.The
lightweight eight, also coached by Konopka, benefited from their coxswain
Peter Cipollone, Ardmore, Pa., who had raced one hour earlier with the
silver
medal pair with coxswain. The light eight captured the second gold medal
of
the day for the US. Knowing the water conditions on the course, Cipollone
suggested the crew use the protected water of the first 500 meters to
establish a lead and then focus on longer, solid strokes through the
middle of
the race where the crosswind affected the boat more. "Of the possible
wind
conditions today," he said, "this was the worst. There were waves
breaking
over the port riggers, and they were breaking."
Perhaps the best news of the day went to Ross Flemer, Newport Beach,
Calif.,
and his coach Ted Nash. Flemer protested Thursday's race results after he
dragged a 3 foot branch 1,200 meters which was caught on the fin of his
shell.
Initially his protest was denied by the Jury of Officials, but was
revisited
with the international federation officials and now is being upheld. The
Jury
now is allowing Flemer to row in lane seven of the final for the
lightweight
men's single sculls. Lane seven does have a few disadvantages, namely
that it
is a bit narrower than the other six lanes Coach Nash said, but this
allows
Flemer the opportunity to row. It is only in very rare occasions that
juries
reverse their decisions, FISA president Denis Oswald said.
The remaining US medals came in the following events: lightweight men's
quadruple sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, women's single
sculls,
men's pair with coxswain and women's double.
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
Argentina 4 1 2 7
USA 3 6 0 9
Cuba 2 0 4 6
Canada 2 3 1 6
Brazil 0 1 0 1
Mexico 0 0 4 4
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Regatta officials altered the Sunday schedule of events slightly. The
order
of events is as follows:
8:30 a.m. Lightweight Women's Pair without Coxswain
8:40 a.m. Men's Quadruple Sculls
9:00 a.m. Men's Four with Coxswain
9:20 a.m. Lightweight Men's Double Sculls
9:40 a.m. Women's Quadruple Sculls
10:00 a.m. Men's Pair without Coxswain
10:20 a.m. Lightweight Women's Quadruple Sculls *EXHIBITION*
10:40 a.m. Lightweight Men's Single Sculls
11:00 a.m. Women's Pair without Coxswain
11:20 a.m. Lightweight Men's Four without Coxswain
11:40 a.m Men's Eight
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RESULTS OF FINALS, SATURDAY, MARCH 18
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Men's Single Sculls
1. Argentina, Sergio Fernandez, 6:03.43;
2. USA, Cyrus Beasley, 6:14.81;
3. Cuba, Leonides Same Sanchez, 6:23.65;
4. Uruguay, Jesus Posse Vivas,6:35.43;
5. Canada, Reuben Thompson, 6:39.51.
Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls
1. Cuba, 6:36.54;
2. USA, Jeffrey Pfaendtner, Grosse Point, Mich.; Ed Hewitt, Ventnor,
N.J.; William Carlucci, Rye Brook, N.Y.; Michael Dreher, Durham,N.H.,
6:39.62;
3. Mexico, 6:43.73;
4. Argentina, 6:48.85;
5. Chile.
Lightweight Men's Pair without Coxswain
1. USA, Chris Kerber, Collingswood, N.J.; Andrew Finch, Boston, Mass.,
7:38.50;
2. Canada, 7:52.58;
3. Mexico, 7:52.58;
4. Guatamala, 7:57.60;
5. Cuba, 8:05.55;
6. Brazil, 8:25.18.
Lightweight Women's Double Sculls
1. Argentina, 8:06.13;
2. USA, Barbara Spitz, Philadelphia, Pa.;Elizabeth Gordon, S. Hadley,
Mass.,
8:10.54;
3. Mexico, 8:17.50;
4. Paraguay, 8:53.02;
5. Puerto Rico, 8:59.10.
Women's Double Sculls
1. Canada, 7:57.95;
2. USA, Michelle Knox Zaloom, Annapolis, Md.; Andrea Thies, Irvington,
N.Y.,
8:05.80;
3. Cuba, 8:22.73;
4. Peru, 8:34.15;
5. Argentina, 8:45.32.
Men's Pair with Coxswain
1. Cuba, 8:08.34;
2. USA, Chris Swan, Old Saybrook, Conn.; Tom Murray,Buffalo, N.Y.;
Peter Cipollone, Ardmore, Pa., 8:11.33;
3. Argentina,8:19.18;
4. Peru, 8:28.10;
5. Chile, dnf.
Men's Double Sculls
1. Argentina, 7:23.17;
2. Brazil, 7:32.63;
3. Canada, 7:34.46;
4. USA, David Gleeson, Milwaukee, Wis.; Jason Gailes, Dighton, Mass.,
7:35.90;
5. Cuba, 7:42.63.
Lightweight Women's Single Sculls
1. Argentina, Maria Garisoain, 9:20.80;
2. Canada, Wendy Wiebe, 9:30.65;
3. Mexico, Andrea Bradstret, 9:35.81;
4. USA, Lindsay Burns, Big Timber, Mont., 9:44.66;
5. Paraguay, 10:52.59;
6. Puerto Rico, Sandra Garcia Madera, 10:54.30.
Lightweight Men's Eight
1. USA, Peter Cipollone, Ardmore, Pa.; Steve Gantz, McLean, Va.; John
Velyvis, N. Adams. Mass.; David Collins, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Steve
Robinson, Ardwyn, Conn.; Jonathan Moss, Tenafly, N.J.; Ed Grose,
Juneau, Alaska, Tom Grace, Dallas, Texas, 6:24.70;
2. Argentina, 6:27.76;
3. Cuba, 6:34.58;
4. Chile, 6:38.53;
5. Mexico, excluded.
Men's Four without Coxswain
1. USA, Jamie Koven, Green Village, N.J.; Jon Brown, New York City, N.Y.;
Bob Kaehler, Huntington, N.Y.; Sean Hall, Arlington, Va., 6:36.80;
2. Canada, 6:39.84;
3. Cuba, 6:48.31;
4. Argentina, 6:49.90;
5. Uruguay,7:03.68;
6. Brazil, 7:16.73.
Women's Single Sculls
1. Canada, Silken Laumann, 8:34.09;
2. USA, Ruth Davidon, Baltimore, Md., 8:46.63;
3. Argentina, Maria Garisoain, 8:54.70;
4. Cuba, Odalis Martinez, 9:32.16;
5. Mexico, Lourdes Montoya, 9:35.17.
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Results from the Sunday Finals will be posted as soon as they are
available
from the USOC Bulletin Board in Mar del Plata.
-or
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