Mary Reckford And Michelle Sechser Are Dominant In Winning At Rowing World Cup In Poland

Mary Reckford and Michelle Sechser compete during the women's lightweight double sculls Heat 1 at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on July 24, 2021 in Tokyo.

The U.S. duo of Mary Reckford and Michelle Sechser held off the boat from Australia by nearly five seconds to win the women’s lightweight double sculls event Sunday at World Rowing Cup II in Poznan, Poland.

The U.S. crew that also finished fifth in the event at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was dominant throughout the weekend, winning their heat and semifinal before pulling away in the final too. Their final time of 6 minutes, 57.44 seconds beat Australia’s 7:02.37 to secure the victory.

Reckford and Sechser joined Mary Jones Nabel in winning this weekend. Jones Nabel won in the non-Olympic lightweight women’s single sculls event. In addition, American boats added five more medals, all in Olympic events.

In the women’s pair, the USA 1 boat of Madeleine Wanamaker and Claire Collins, who both raced in the women’s four in Tokyo, claimed a silver medal, rowing to second place in 7:18.82 seconds. The Netherlands took the gold medal in 7:16.61.

Rowing in lane 4, the Americans led the Dutch boat up to the 1,500-meter mark, but the eventual winners, rowing in lane 5, surged in the final 500 meters to cross the finish line first.

The USA 2 crew of Regina Salmons and Allyson Baker just missed the podium, finishing fourth in 7:28.98. Salmons competed in the women’s eight last year in Tokyo.

The other U.S. women’s podium finish came in double sculls, where the USA 1 boat of Olympian Kara Kohler and Sophia Vitas took home a bronze medal. The Americans crossed the line in 6:59.49, less than a half-second behind Ireland. The Netherlands won in 6:54.67.

Three U.S. men’s boats all won bronze medals.

In the men’s pair, Olympians Justin Best and Michael Grady in USA 1 posted a time of 6:38.21 to finish third. New Zealand rowed to the gold medal in 6:32.32, and the Netherlands brought home the silver medal, crossing the line .9 seconds ahead of the Americans.

The U.S. men’s four of Andrew Gaard, Michael Knippen, Chris Carlson and Pieter Quinton crossed the finish line in 6:07.54, behind Australia (6:03.20) and the Netherlands (6:04.21).

Wrapping up the U.S. medals, Benjamin Davidson took third in the men’s single sculls, his time of 6:58.21 trailing only the boats from the Netherlands (6:51.38) and France (6:56.76).

In addition to their medals this weekend, Davidson, Kohler-Vitas, Sechser-Reckford, Best-Grady and Collins-Wanamaker all secured roster spots for the 2022 World Rowing Championships, which take place Sept. 18-25 in Racice, Czech Republic. 

Zachary Heese and Jasper Liu also did so in the men’s lightweight double sculls, where they finished fifth.