Brewer Excels on First Day of U-23 World Championships
7/19/2017 1:03:00 PM | Rowing
• Results
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria -- The three University of Michigan representatives competing for Team USA at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships began the week's events with heats on Wednesday (July 19), and rising senior Kendall Brewer's pairs boat advanced to the A final on Saturday (July 22).
With Wolverines rowing in three different events on the waters of the Marista River in Bulgaria, the international competition marks an important competitive opportunity for Brewer, U-M graduate Tessa Yurko (fours) and rising junior Meghan Gutknecht (quad sculls).
Brewer and partner Brooke Pierson (University of Washington) cruised to a heat victory in 7:26.750, finishing in an impressive +5.56 to ensure their place in Saturday's A final. That race is set to begin at 10:48 a.m. EDT and can be viewed on worldrowing.com.
Yurko's fours boat placed fourth in its heat this morning in 6:54.20. She will await the results of Thursday's repechages to see if she will move forward to the A/B or C/D semifinals on Friday.
Gutknecht's sculls boat came in third during this morning's racing. They timed 6:42.180, finishing 1.720 seconds off a second-place finish that would have pushed them through to the final.
Like Yurko, she will compete Thursday morning to determine whether or not her boat will advance. Unlike with Yurko's fours boat, though, there is no sculls semifinal, so tomorrow's repechages will determine whether or not Gutknecht and company find themselves racing in an A or B final to close out the weekend.
Thursday's competition schedule:
Thursday (July 20) Repechages (times ET):
Event 15 (Fours; BW4-), 4:45 a.m.
Event 10 (Quad Sculls; BLW4x), 5:25 a.m.
