Sports Briefs: Marin rowers, water polo stars power U.S. National teams in Europe

Marin Rowing Association members Samantha Smart and Quincy Stone helped the US Rowing Under 19 women’s four and women’s eight win their heats to highlight Thursday’s racing at the 2022 World Rowing Under 19 & Under 23 Championships on Lake Varese in Varese, Italy.

The U19 women’s four of Smart (Mill Valley/Marin Rowing Association), Elsa Hartman (Roseville/Capital Crew), Imogen Cabot (Cambridge, Mass./The Winsor School), and Kennedy Housley (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew) easily won the second of two heats to move directly to Sunday’s final. With two to advance, the U.S. jumped out to an early lead, with France slotting into second place. The U.S. continued to pull away from the field over the middle 1,000 meters, while France solidified the second qualification spot. The American crew entered the final 500 meters with a four-second lead and cruised to the victory, finishing with a time of 6:41.99. France claimed second in a 6:44.52.

“This was our first heat, so obviously the goal was to make the A final and not go to reps, so we’re really happy checking off the box,” Cabot said. “We got up off the start. We rated pretty low. We didn’t sprint. We were just trying to hold off the other crews without expending too much energy, and we did that well. We got into a really good rhythm, and it was just a really fun race.”

The U19 women’s eight began defense of its world title in dominant fashion Thursday, winning the first of two heats by over five seconds. With only the winner advancing, the U.S. crew of coxswain Frances McKenzie (Cos Cob, Ct./Greenwich Crew), Eugenia Rodríguez-Vázquez (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain/Princeton National Rowing Association/Mercer), Lily Pember (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation), Sarah Bradford (Oconomowoc, Wis./Milwaukee Rowing Club), Stone (San Francisco/Marin Rowing Association), Ellie Bijeau (Washington, D.C./Wilson Crew), Phoebe Wise (Greenwich, Ct./Greenwich Crew), Sofia Simone (Miami, Fla./Sarasota Crew), and Nora Goodwillie (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation) held a slight advantage 500 meters into the race before using its base speed to methodically pull away from Germany. A two-second lead at the midway point turned into a four-second advantage as the crews entered the final 500 meters. The U.S. won the race in 6:23.54, with Germany finishing in a 6:28.90. Great Britain won the second heat in a 6:21.93.

The World Rowing Under 23 and Under 19 Championships are running simultaneously this year. Saturday’s racing includes the remaining U23 finals, as well as semifinals in the U19 events. Racing concludes Sunday with finals in the U19 events.

Water polo

San Anselmo’s Dylan Woodhead netted a goal as the USA Men’s National Team took silver at the FINA World League Super Final for the second year in a row and fourth time in program history. Team USA lost to Italy, 13-9, in the title game in France on Wednesday. Team USA and Italy met for the fifth time since July 12 and just days removed from the USA Men defeating Italy 13-9 to finish group play.

• Meanwhile, Ella Woodhead, Dylan’s younger sister, will be competing for the USA team at the 2022 FINA Women’s Youth World Championship in Belgrade, Serbia July 31-August 8. Ella Woodhead, a member of Sleepy Hollow Aquatics and a graduate of Sacred Heart Prep, will head to Stanford in the fall to play water polo.