Sloan DuRoss ’95 and Deaglan McEachern ’01 have finished competing at the 2007 Rowing World Championships in Munich, Germany. This year’s regatta was particularly important because the results determined which nations qualify for which events at next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

• After a close finish in the repechage on Wednesday, the quad raced in the A semifinals on Friday. After the first 500 meters, the crew was in second place closely behind Ukraine. In the middle 1000, the quad fell back in the field following pushes from other crews. In the last 500, once contention for the A finals was out of reach, the crew dropped their stroke rating to a 30 to save their legs for the B finals (where they needed fifth place or better for Olympic qualification) and finished sixth behind Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Australia and Estonia.
• In the B finals on Sunday, the crew trailed behind Russia at the start but led Estonia, Australia, Cuba and Belarus. In the third 500, the U.S. fell behind Estonia, but maintained its position over the other three boats. In the end, the crew finished third (though less than three seconds behind first place Russia) in the B finals, successfully qualifying the U.S. for the Men’s Quadruple Sculls event at the Beijing Olympics next summer. Check out a video of the LM4- and M4x in their finals. Congratulations Sloan and Deaglan!

Five U.S. boats won medals in other events. The Women’s Eight, Men’s Coxed Four, and Women’s Four won gold, the Women’s Lightweight Single Sculls won silver, and the Women’s Single Sculls won bronze. In all, eleven U.S. boats qualified for next year’s Olympic Games, the second most of any country. Congratulations to all who competed in the regatta, and best of luck for those who are training for Beijing!

Video courtesy of Row2k.

To see complete results, check the FISA website.

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