Justin Moore's US 8+ Advances to Finals at World Rowing Junior Championships

BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE, FRANCE (8/5/09) – Conditions on Lac du Causse Correzien were perfect for the opening day of heats at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships as boats competed on calm waters in warm weather.

Warm, however, does not begin to describe the performance delivered this afternoon by the US 8+ coached by Eph head coach Justin Moore as the red, white and blue secured one of two automatic berths in Saturday’s Finals.

Heat One featured an easy open water win by Romania.  The Romanians won by nearly eight seconds over host France, earning an automatic berth in the Finals.

Romania left no doubt who was the fastest boat in Heat One as by 500m they had already posted a two second lead. Winning in 6:42.90 may not be an accurate gauge of the strength of the Romanian boat, as they were not pushed throughout the racecourse.

France was second in 6:50.29, Hungary third (6:56.50) and Russia was fourth (6:57.66). France, Hungary and Russia will join Heat Two boats from New Zealand and Germany in tomorrow’s Repechage to see which of those boats will advance to Saturday’s Finals.

New Zealand led the US boat in Heat Two at the 500m and 1000m checkpoints. The Kiwis took control in the first 500m notching a .90 (second) lead, which the US was able to lower to .28 at the 1000m mark. It was then that Moore’s US boat put down the hammer and exerted their strength and power, turning the .28 deficit into a 3.18 lead at 1500m, settling in for a solid 2.93 margin of victory.

The US boat logged the day’s fastest time clocking a 6:35.75 to New Zealand’s 6:38.68. Germany finished in 6:46.22.

Moore’s US boat will now have the luxury of concentrating on training for the Finals along with the Romanian boat. While it would be tempting to note that the US out stroked New Zealand, which rowed faster than the Romanians did to win Heat One, that cold be a big mistake.

Oftentimes it is not possible to gauge a boat’s strength and capabilities until you face them on the water. The US was pushed to the finish line by a talented New Zealand entry, while Romania only needed to maintain its large lead over France to gain the berth in the Finals.

The Finals will be a great test for a strong US boat that relies on power, but other than securing an automatic berth in the Finals the win today does factor into whether the boat will medal or not. 

Moore, a master motivator, has created a ledger of success at Williams by having his boats ready for the biggest of tests and no doubt he will have this US boat ready to row on the largest of stages on Saturday.

"The Romanians have a lot in reserve," noted Moore. "They had control of their heat by the 500m mark and just rowed steady the rest of the way. New Zealand pushed us very hard early. In typical Kiwi fashion, they rowed with a lot of toughness. I expect that they will learn from this and be better prepared in the finals.  I also think that Germany is much better than they showed today. They were down one length at the 500 and just rowed it home with tomorrow in mind."

"As I told the women they would, we rowed today like we have in training," saod Moore. "They had a decent start and found a good rhythm to work from in the middle. I was impressed by how composed this group of young women was throughout the day and during the race. They took a nice first step today. Our challenge now is to continue to "work the processes" and get faster for Saturday."

Below is a recap of the two heats from the World Rowing website (www.worldrowing.com):

JUNIOR WOMEN’S EIGHT (JW8+) – HEATS

The United States won this event last year and Romania finished second. As is the case at the senior level, these two countries are eternal rivals. Today they were divided between the two heats, Romania in Heat One and the United States in Heat Two. Only the winner of each race would get a direct path to the Final on Saturday.

Heat One had Romania in the lead which was perhaps not that much of a surprise. The real surprise would be who would take over in second. France filled this role, much to the crowd’s delight. Coming second, however, served no purpose. Romania earned a spot in the final. France sprinted to a 38 stroke rate finish, but will have to return for the repechage tomorrow.

Following Heat Two the United States can claim bragging rights to being the fastest qualifying crew. The United States did this by fighting a tough battle with New Zealand. New Zealand held the lead for the first half of the race, but in the second half the Americans had much better speed. New Zealand rated 37 in the final sprint to try and work their way back up. The United States remained in front for a direct path to the final.