Women’s Pair Finishes Fourth in Paris

The U.S. women’s pair just missed the medal stand on Friday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, finishing fourth. The U.S. will have four crews racing Saturday, including three with medal chances, on the final day of the Olympic rowing regatta.

Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) finished fourth in the final of the women’s pair, just edging by Lithuania on the final stroke. The Netherlands’ Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering put on a dominant performance, winning the race by more than four seconds over a late-charging Romanian crew and New Zealand. The Dutch boat took more than a two-second lead in the first 500 meters and had built the advantage to nearly four seconds at the halfway point before cruising to the easy victory. Romania’s Roxana Anghel and Ioana Vrinceanu chased down Australia’s Anabelle McIntyre and Jess Morrison in the final 500 meter to win silver. The U.S. got off the line in sixth position before moving into fifth during the second quarter of the race. Thoennes and Czajkowski stalked Lithuania over the back half of the race, but neither crew could pull their way back into a medal position. The Netherlands won the race in a 6:58.67, with Romania finishing in a 7:02.97. Australia took the bronze medal in a 7:03.54, while the U.S. finished with a time of 7:05.31, just 0.03 seconds ahead of Lithuania. The U.S. finished 10th in Tokyo.

"I'm really proud of Azja and I,” Thoennes said. “Four months ago, we were standing at (Olympic) trials, like, ‘well?’ I think the beauty of being in a pair with someone is the gift of seeing them grow constantly. Azja is just starting her Olympic campaign; she's starting her career, and to have that amount of grit and determination … She just came in fourth at the Olympics, in a pair, a year out of college. It is incredible for someone to do that."

In the lightweight women's double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/Cambridge Boat Club) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) finished sixth. Great Britain’s Imogen Grant and Emily Craig inched ahead of Romania in the first 500 meters and slowly built their lead over the final 1,500 meters, winning gold in a 6:47.06. The Romanian crew of Ionela Livia Cozmiuc and Gianina Elena van Groningen held off a late charge by Greece’s Zoi Fitsiou and Dimitra Kontou to take the silver, with the Greeks winning bronze. The Americans got off the line in sixth place, and while they were still in contention through the 1,000-meter mark, they weren’t able to keep pace over the back half of the race. Romania finished 1.72 seconds behind the Brits in a 6:48.78, with Greece clocking a 6:49.28. The U.S. finished with a. time of 6:55.60.

“We knew it was going to be hard; it’s a lightweight women’s race, so that’s never in doubt,” Reckford said. “We also knew that we had very good base speed, and we needed to stay with the pack. Strategically, we had talked about no matter what happens, stay with the pack. If you have to go 300 meters in, go 300 meters in. Michelle led, and I followed her calls, and we kept it higher than we normally rate. We really gave it all in that first (1,000 meters) to stay with the pack, and I think we did a better job with that this race than we had earlier in the regatta. But you pay for that, and it meant that we couldn’t quite get to that final gear.” 

“It was an incredible experience,” said Sechser, who finished fifth with Reckford at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2022. “While the result is not how I wanted this lightweight double race to end for me, obviously, what an incredible day. I woke up this morning. It was stunning. The water was beautiful. Molly and I are both healthy. We have all the support staff we could want. We get to go up against the world and Olympic record holders. We get to go up against the reigning world champions. I couldn’t ask for anything else to get to do. It’s so incredible to be a part of this, to get to be back in this Olympic final even just fighting for a medal.” 

The U.S. men’s pair of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and Billy Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) finished fourth in the B final for a 10th-place finish overall. New Zealand’s Phillip Wilson and Daniel Williamson took control of the race in the second 500 meters, while the remaining crews waged a tight battle all the way into the final sprint. The U.S. got off the line in sixth position before moving into second place as the boats hit 500 meters to go. In the sprint to the line, Lithuania was able to pull into second place, with South Africa taking third. The Americans held of Germany for fourth. New Zealand won the race in a 6:24.55, with Lithuania taking second in a 6:25.94. The U.S finished with a time of 6:28.57.

“It was just good to get back to it,” Bub said. “I mean ultimately, rowing is just a sport, and sports are supposed to be fun. You're supposed to have fun doing them, so being out of the race for medals was tough, but it did bring us back to the ‘just line it up and race’ (mentality). We had a lot of fun today, so it was good to be out there. Eventually you're going to have to find the silver lining. Today was a good first step with that. I think that this was the best race of the regatta.”

The U.S. will have four boats racing in Saturday’s final day of competition including three competing for medals. Click here for a complete race schedule.

Women’s single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), a three-time Olympian who finished fourth in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, advanced to Saturday’s final thanks to a third-place finish in her semifinal. Kohler will take on scullers from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Lithuania, Australia, and Bulgaria in the medal race. New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, the defending Olympic champion, and the Netherlands’ Karolien Florijn, the defending world champion, won the two semifinals. Kohler finished ninth in the event in Tokyo. The U.S. last won a medal in the women’s single sculls in 2016.

The women's eight of coxswain Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Charlotte Buck(Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins(McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Meghan Musnicki(Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons(Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker(Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman(Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Molly Bruggeman(Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) won its repechage to advance to Saturday’s final. The crew will race heat winners Romania and Great Britain, as well as Canada, Australia, and Italy in the final. The U.S. finished fourth at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, breaking a streak of three consecutive gold medals in the event.

The men’s eight crew of Rielly Milne (Woodinville, Wash./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./University of Washington/Seattle Scullers/Penn AC), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University/California Rowing Club), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/New York Athletic Club), Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University/Boston Rowing Federation), Christian Tabash(Alexandria, Va./Harvard University/University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota), Nick Rusher (West Bend, Wis./Yale University/California Rowing Club), and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club) won its heat on Monday to advance directly to the race for the medals. The American boat will take on crews from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, and Australia in the final. Great Britain won the other heat. The U.S. finished fourth in the event in Tokyo and last won a medal in 2008, taking home the bronze.

First-time Olympian Jacob Plihal (Vashon Island, Wash./Northeastern University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) won his C/D semifinal to advance to Saturday’s C final. Plihal will take on scullers from Brazil, Algeria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Paraguay in the race for overall places 13-18.

In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics including the women's single sculls, men's single sculls, women's double sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, women's pair, men's pair, women's four, men's four, women's eight and men's eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.

Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.

USRowing would like to thank our national team sponsors including our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; our Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., our Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; our Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing's High Performance Team.