Pocock’s Meyer is first female sculler in U.S history to medal at Junior Worlds

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 5, 2006 – Lindsay Meyer of Seattle’s Pocock Rowing Center became the first female sculler in U.S. history to medal at a junior world championships by winning the bronze in the women’s single sculls Saturday at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships in Amsterdam. On the podium, Meyer joined a silver medal-winning U.S. junior women’s eight, which included Jennifer Cromwell and Katelin Kelley of Pocock and Adrienne Mecham and Sarah Gribler of the Everett Rowing Association, as the two U.S crews to bring home medals at the world regatta. The U.S. eight tied the top finish ever for a U.S. junior women’s eight-oared crew at the world regatta.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” said Meyer of her historic accomplishment. “I don’t think it has sunk in yet.”

Meyer, 17, who will be a senior at Seattle’s Holy Names Academy, got off the line in sixth place but moved into third as the scullers crossed the half-way mark of the 2,000 meter race. She then made a strong push during the third quarter of the race to pull away from South Africa’s Kirsten McCann, solidifying the bronze medal. Meyer crossed the finish line with a time of 8:10.11. Poland’s Natalia Madaj led the race from wire-to-wire to win gold in a time of 8:04.99. Germany’s Juliane Domscheid took the silver medal with a time of 8:07.18.

FISA, the international rowing federation, started offering junior women’s events in 1979, but the United States had never won a medal in any women’s sculling event until Saturday. Meyer also became the first U.S. single sculler, male or female, to win a medal at the junior world championships since 1976.

“It was a hard race,” Meyer said. “I was definitely not first off the (start) line, but I didn’t let that bother me and just tried to race my race. I don’t really know when I moved into third. I just tried to keep working.”

In the women’s eight-oared event, the U.S. crew of coxswain Ariel Frost (Oakland, Calif.), Mecham (Lake Stevens, Wash.), Cromwell (Bellevue, Wash.), Maren McCrea (Larkspur, Calif.), Desiree Burns (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Elise Wilson (Montara, Calif.), Nancy Graves (Washington, N.C.), Sarah Gribler (Marysville, Wash.), and Kelley (Seattle, Wash.) clocked a 6:28.08 to equal the top performance ever by a U.S. junior eight at the world regatta. The Americans finished just 2.62 seconds behind the winners from Romania. Romania led the race from start-to-finish to finish with a 6:25.46, while the U.S. held second place the entire way down the course. Germany took home the bronze medal. The U.S. had won silver medals in the event twice previously in 1999 and 2003.

In the men’s eight, Vashon Island High School’s Tom Kicinski helped the U.S. finish fifth at the world event. The crew of coxswain Zach Vlahos (Piedmont, Calif.), Nick Lucey (San Francisco, Calif.), Jack Lindeman (Sewell, N.J.), Carl Thunman (Herndon, Va.), Michael Lombardi (Mt. Laurel, N.J.), Chris Courtin (Buffalo, N.Y.), Tom Kicinski (Vashon Island, Wash.), Lucas Spielfogel (Boca Raton, Fla.), and Vince Berry (East Lansdowne, Pa.) held third place for the first 500 meters, but dropped to fourth in the second quarter of the race and was unable to stay in contact with the top three crews. The U.S. crossed the finish line with a time of 5:52.21. New Zealand won the race in a 5:43.50, followed by Germany and Italy.

Lakeside Schools Hayley Johnson (Woodway, Wash.) helped the U.S. women’s four to a win in the B-level final for seventh place at the world regatta. The crew, crew jumped out to the early lead, building more than a two-second advantage by the 500-meter mark and extending it to eight seconds at the midway point of the race. The crew finished with a time of 7:17.90, finishing nearly eight seconds ahead of Romania’s 7:25.88.

Holy Names Academy’s Michaela Strand and Caroline Nash (Darien, Conn.) finished second in the B-level final of the women’s pair for an eighth-place overall finish. The duo led for almost the entire race before being caught at the line. The U.S. clocked a 7:55.17 to finish 0.14 seconds behind Poland.

Eight Seattle-area high school aged rowers were among five of eleven U.S. crews entered in the junior world rowing competition that included over 650 athletes representing 52 nations.

About the George Pocock Rowing Foundation
The George Pocock Rowing Foundation is a non-profit organization that serves as a community resource for the support and advancement of the sport of rowing in the Northwest. The Foundation is active in helping develop new rowing programs, providing rowing opportunities for at-risk children and adults, and sponsoring men and women training for the U.S. National Rowing Team.