Bentley, Schoonbee Take Second in Heats, on to Semifinals at World U23 Championships
7/24/2019 10:32:00 AM | Rowing
SARASOTA-BRADENTON, Fla. -- Rising senior Tayla-May Bentley and rising sophomore Jessica Schoonbee began competition at the World U23 Championships on Wednesday (July 24) in the women's pair (W2-) event. Racing in the first heat of the day at 9 a.m., the duo timed 7:19.920 to place second in their heat for their native South Africa, earning an automatic spot in Friday's A/B semifinals.
Bentley and Schoonbee are coached by U-M assistant coach Liz Tuppen. They have been training in Ann Arbor since the conclusion of the NCAA season, when both rowed in the first varsity eight to help U-M place third at the national regatta. Now, the Johannesburg, South Africa, natives are rowing together in international competition.
In this morning's heat, they raced with Greece, the Netherlands, Italy and Australia. The top three boats earned an automatic bid to Saturday's A/B semifinal.
Early in this morning's race, the Greek boat pushed itself into lead pace through 500 meters, but Bentley and Schoonbee held pace to stay in the top three along with the Dutch. Near the halfway point, the South African pair surged ahead and began to separate from the Dutch boat, putting open water on the remaining boats in the field.
As the Netherlands did its best to hold off Australia and Italy, Bentley and Schoonbee continued their steady pace and took open water across the line to finish in second place.
After earning an automatic bid this morning, Bentley and Schoonbee will prepare to race in the A/B Semifinals on Friday (July 26) at 10:30 and 10:36 a.m., where they'll have a chance to earn a spot in Sunday's final.
Wolverine fans also should be on the lookout for American Jeri Rhodes, who will compete in the 8+ event. With only five entries, heats are not necessary, but the 8+ boats will race to seed lanes on Friday (July 26) before finals are raced on Sunday (July 28).
All races are streamed on ESPN3, available through the ESPN App.
Results
Heat 1 (top three to A/B semifinals)
1. Greece -- 7:15.330
2. South Africa -- 7:19.920
3. Netherlands -- 7:28.210
4. Australia -- 7:30.490
5. Italy -- 7:35.200
