Team USA Pushes Towards Medal Races On Day 5 Of Rowing

PARIS — With three more days of rowing competition remaining at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, day five got underway Wednesday morning with four American crews hitting the water looking to secure places in finals later this week.

The first crews of the day were thankful for overcast skies and a bit of a breeze to get a break from the 90-degree heat that had made the last few days challenging for the athletes on the water. 

Team USA women’s pair and lightweight women’s double sculls advanced and booked places in the finals taking place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium about an hour outside of the Paris city center.

In the women’s pair, Team USA’s Jess Thoennes and Azja Czajkowski advanced to Friday’s final thanks to a second-place finish in the second semifinal.  After leading most of the race, Australia came from behind to take the race but allowed the American duo to comfortably finish second to book their place in the finals. 

“Full transparency,” she said, “I was a little surprised to look over and see that we were up after 500 (meters).” But the pair had a plan and stuck to it. “We were just focused on having a clean start, having a really aggressive first 1K. For us, it was just about executing our race as we know we can do it.”

Thoennes was happy with their finish, especially considering the talent they were up against.

“It’s such a deep field,” the 28-year-old said. “Every single one of those crews out there has an incredible amount of tenacity and we knew that going in. It’s just another way everybody is elevating this sport together. We’re really thankful for everybody showing up and bringing their A-game.”

Two-time Olympic pair, Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser made it into finals in the lightweight women’s double sculls finals with a time of 7:05.03, crossing the line behind the defending world champions, Great Britain and New Zealand with the three staying in the same order throughout the 1500m. 

Sechser was happy to get another chance at a final in the event after coming in fifth at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 behind Italy, France and the Netherlands and losing out on a medal by a half-second. In the 2021 matchup, Great Britain suffered heartbreak just missing out on the podium after crossing one one-hundredth of a second behind the Dutch crew.

“That was a wild experience, and I’ve dreamt about having another chance at this race since then,” Sechser said. The two will race what she called “our dear friends” for the medal on Friday.

Racing in the first semifinal, the U.S. men’s pair of Oliver Bub and Billy Bender finished sixth and will now compete in Friday’s B final for overall places 7-12. It was a tough challenge for the pair going up against Croatia as the defending Olympic champions as well as the defending world champions, Switzerland. The pair take on South Africa, Lithuania, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany in the B final.

In the women’s quadruple sculls B final, the U.S. faced off against Romania and Australia with Team USA’s Grace Joyce, Emily Delleman, Teal Cohen, and Lauren O’Connor falling from second with 350m to go to finish with a time of 6:31.71 and a ninth-place finish overall.

Tomorrow continues more wars on the water with medals up for grabs in the men’s and women’s double sculls and fours. The U.S. will also be racing in the singles semifinals and repechages in the eights.

With five days of rowing now in the books, racing concludes on Aug. 3.

Lisa Costantini has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than a decade, including for the International Olympic Committee. She is a freelance writer who has contributed to TeamUSA.com since 2011.