ROWING: Now or Never for U.S. Crews at Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta
Allison Frederick |
(609) 751-0710 |
May 04, 2012 2:55 PM |
|
BELGRADE,
Serbia – The heat is on for crews competing at the Final Paralympic
Qualification Regatta on Lake Sava in Belgrade, Serbia this weekend.
Finals are set for Saturday in four adaptive events, with the top two
boats in each category earning Paralympic qualification.
Two U.S. crews are scheduled to race in the finals – arms and shoulders women’s single sculler Dana Fink (Atlanta, Ga.) and the trunk and arms mixed double sculls crew of Rob Jones (Lovettsville, Va.) and Oksana Masters (Buffalo, N.Y.).
“My
goal is to make top two here in the finals as it is the last
opportunity to qualify for London,” said Fink. “There is definitely some
tough international competition, which is really exciting because it
shows how far adaptive rowing has come in such a short time. At this
point, we have all put in the work over the last few months and for me
it is just about performing as I know I can."
Fink finished second in her repechage Friday to earn a spot in the
final. Coming off of Thursday’s third-place finish in the heats, the
U.S. sculler covered the 1,000-meter course in 6:27.34. South Africa’s
Sandra Khumalo won the race in 6:14.57. Joining them in Saturday’s
final, scheduled for 5:50 p.m. local time, will be Russia, Canada, Japan
and Hungary.
In the trunk and arms double, Jones and Masters are the top seed going
into the final. The duo won Thursday’s race for lanes and will line up
with Argentina, The Netherlands, Brazil and Russia in the final,
scheduled for 6:14 p.m. local time.
For more information and a live results viewer, visit
www.worldrowing.com.
About USRowing
USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States
Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the
United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Boathouse Sports,
Vespoli, WinTech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen
Kellerman, PowerHTV and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous
support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors
and partners ANXeBusiness Corp, Voxer, EZ Dock, EMCVenues, The Perfect
SNAQUE and INDi. For more information, visit
www.usrowing.org.
USRowing has created The Row to London to engage sponsors leading up to
the 2012 Olympic Games, with proceeds going to help ensure the U.S.
team’s success. Opportunities also exist to partner with America Rows –
supporting diversity initiatives and adaptive programs. For more
information, please contact Beth Kohl at
beth@usrowing.org.