Sarah Zelenka competing at U23 World Championships
July 26, 2009
The grand final of the women’s four without coxswain was run today at 10:48am. Grand Valley’s Sarah Zelenka sat bow seat of the United States four that rowed out of lane 6. A tight race in the opening meters, the USA settled into fourth place at the 500m-meter point just one second off the lead. At 1000m, the United States had fallen to last place, only two seconds off of the pace. The entire field raced high and hard to the halfway point. The gap proved too much to overcome as the crosswind and high stroke rating proved to be too challenging in the final section of the course. As the race came to a close, it was Belarus in Lane 1 taking gold in a time of 6:48.8, Italy in Lane 2 silver, and New Zealand in Lane 4 bronze. France, Great Britain, and the United States in a time of 6:57.2 rounded out the field.
July 24, 2009
Sarah Zelenka competed in the repachage today at 9:30am. Again, the racing saw a fast start and the USA down on the field. By the halfway mark, however, the Americans made a push to the front and did not look back. With the top two grabbing a spot in the grand final on Sunday, the United States finished with a time of 6:43.8 just behind Belarus at 6:42.5. The grand final will take place Sunday, July 26th at 10:48 am. The field includes Belarus in lane 1, Italy in lane 2, Great Britain in lane 3, New Zealand in lane 4, France in lane 5, and the USA in lane 6.
July 23, 2009
The racing kicked off this morning in Racice, Czech Republic with the heats. Grand Valley’s Sarah Zelenka rowed bow seat in the United States four without coxswain that competed in the first heat of the event at 9:30am. With the top two finishers qualifying directly to the grand final, the race was hotly contested from the start. The U.S. found themselves down to the field early and were unable to overcome the deficit. New Zealand won the heat in a time of 7:03.50 with the defending champs Italy coming in second in 7:04.33. The United States rounded out the heat in a time of 7:11.29.
In the second heat, it was Great Britain setting the pace in 7:08.79 with France joining them in the finals at 7:09.94. The United States will have a second opportunity to qualify for the grand finals July 24th at 9:30am in the repachage. The United States will sqaure off against Belarus, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The top two finishers in the repachage will qualify for the grand final on July 26, with the remaining boats going to the petite final on July 25.
July 9, 2009
Sarah Zelenka won the USRowing U23 World Championship trial this morning competing in a 4-. The boat consisted of Theresa Shields (Wisconsin) at stroke, Sarah Gribler (Michigan), Sarah Zelenka (GVSU), and Laura Nicholson (Harvard) at bow. Shields returns from the 2008 U23 team, in which she stroked the eight to a gold medal at the World Championships. Rowing into a stiff headwind, the boat raced to a first place finish of 7:34.3, ahead of two Penn A.C. entries at 7:42.6 and 8:03.9 respectively. Sarah had been taking part in the USRowing U23 selection camp with Grand Valley teammate Kelsey Arnold in the weeks leading up to the trials. The 4- was selected based on ergo performance, pair racing, and seat racing throughout the selection process. In winning the race, the boat secured a spot on the USA U23 team that will travel to Racice, Czech Republic to compete in the U23 World Championships on July 23-July 26.
Sarah and Kelsey have been writing about their experience at the camp. The journals may be accessed from the front page of our website.
Further information:
