Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls Wins Silver at 2024 World Championships

The senior portion of the 2024 World Championships came to an end with silver in the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls in St. Catharines, Canada. The lightweight racing for the U.S. all came down to inches.

The U.S. crew of Jasper Liu, Ian Richardson, Casey Howshall, and James McCullough crossed the line just .35 seconds off of the winning Mexican crew. The first 500 meters found barely a second between the top three crews of Mexico, Germany, and the U.S. The Americans continued to throw move after move to keep their bow in fighting position, and it all came down to the final 500 meters as the top three medalists were .56 seconds apart. The Americans jumped early, trying to push their way through the leaving Mexicans. In the final ten strokes of the race, the crews traded the lead and the final surge from the Mexicans in the last two strokes took the gold. This is the first silver medal for the U.S. in this event. 

Stroke, Jasper Liu said “I can honestly say we left it all out there; that’s all you can ask for. It was our best race ever, and it ended up just a little short at the end. That’s racing. For most of us this was the last race on the national team, we can be proud of that one.”

NYAC’s Sam Melvin finished fourth in the lightweight men’s single sculls in a tight race to the finish. Paris Olympic bronze medalist Greece’s Antonios Papakonstantinou shot out of the blocks, moving into first place in the first 500 meters, trying to clear the field early. Melvin moved into third place in the second 500 meters, overtaking Italy’s Niels Torre. Melvin worked to push Italy out of striking distance, opening 1.5 seconds over the Italian rower in the next 700 meters. In the final strokes of the race, Italy’s strong sprint overtook Melvin in the last 20 strokes. Melvin finished in a time of 6:54.35, 1.71 seconds off the podium. Two-time Olympic champion Paul O’onovan from Ireland won the World Championship in a time of 6:49.68.

Audrey Boersen finished second in the B Final of the lightweight women’s single sculls in a time of 7:33.75. Boersen got off to a speedy start, moving into first in the first part of the race over the rest of the field. Poland’s Martyna Radosz stayed close as Boersen did her best to push her bow ball further ahead during the race. The race came down to the final strokes as Poland was able to just gain the edge on Boersen, crossing the finish line just .27 seconds ahead of the American. 

Boersen spoke with immense pride in the race, “It was a fantastic race. It’s obviously not the final you want to be in, but it’s still the last race, and still the potential to be top seven, top ten in the world. I wanted to take that chance and run with it. You look at the field, there’s a lot of 2024 Olympians out there, it was a really tough field. I think it will be my last lightweight race, so I wanted to make it count. I got out to a better start than I had all week and really surprised myself out there. You have to keep that momentum going, and there was a really great push from Poland at the end and I enjoyed the challenge. I still feel really proud of the execution of that race and I think that is a good last one to hang my lightweight hat on.”

The U19 men’s double sculls C/D Semifinal came down to inches, with the American crew of Donovan Moses and George Kapp finishing second by just .16 seconds over the crew from Canada to qualify for the C Final. The three-boat field was tight throughout the course with winners Spain holding the largest margin of two seconds in the middle of the race. The U.S. was undeterred, working to close that gap to .52 seconds in the last 500 meters and crossing the finish line in a time of 6:35.51. The crew will race in the C Final tomorrow at 9:50 a.m. ET.

The U19 men’s quadruple sculls continue to build on their speed at the regatta, finishing sixth in the A/B Semifinal. The U.S. traded blows with the Chinese down the course, switching between fifth and sixth. The crew was able to close the margin on China in the final 500 meters of the race, just missing fifth by .70 seconds. They will race in the B Final tomorrow at 10:32 a.m. ET.

Ian O’Riley finished sixth in the A/B Semifinal in the U19 men’s single sculls. O’Riley was tight with the front of the field in the first 500 meters before winner Germany walked away. O’Riley fought with Poland’s Dominik Syposz in the last half of the race, working to keep him in striking distance in the sprint. O’Riley was unable to get his bow ahead of the Polish rower, finishing .99 seconds behind fifth place in a time of 7:20.29. He will race in the B Final at 10:47 a.m. ET. 

The U19 finals take place tomorrow with medals on the line for the men’s and women’s fours with coxswain and eights.