The rain continued to wash away world best times at the this year’s World Rowing Under 23 Championships Sunday, July 24 in Amsterdam. The conditions didn’t stop United States crews from bringing home three medals on the final day of the World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The U.S. men’s eight won gold, while the women’s eight and lightweight men’s single sculls each took the bronze to bring the final medal count to four.In one of the most exciting finals of the day, the U.S. men’s eight powered down the on the Bosbaan racecourse to win gold and set a new under 23 world best time of 5:24.31.One of central Jersey’s own, rower Thomas Dethlefs sits in seat No. 3 on the boat. The crew, coached by former U.S. National Team and current Cal head coach Mike Teti, held off Great Britain in the semifinal by less than a second en route to the final.In a steady downpour and gusty northwest tailwind, the Czech Republic took the lead early, with the U.S. close behind in second place.“It was fast conditions and we knew teams were going to be fast off the line,” said stroke-seat Michael Gennaro, the rower from Havertown, Pa. who returned to the boat from last year’s silver medal crew. “Since we were fast Thursday, we knew that people were going to try to compete with us, and they did. We took our move at the 750 that we had been prepping all summer. That was the difference.”The U.S. crew walked through Czech Republic just before the halfway mark, and continued to press. Gennaro along with coxswain Anthony Altimari, Dariush Aghai, Thomas Dethlefs, Robert Otto, Austin Hack, Robert Munn, Christopher Yeager and Alexander Bunkers crossed 1.9 seconds ahead of Czech Republic’s 5:26.21 for gold.“It was exactly what we wanted to do,” said Gennaro. “That was racing, and Coach Teti says we’re the best at it. We row all year long. We know what it’s like to be down and ahead and even. Anthony kept us all composed and we all gathered. It was awesome.”Reigning world champion Germany lost the race for the bronze medal, as Great Britain came screaming through in the final stretch, posting a 5:29.15 to Germany’s 5:30.93. Poland crossed fifth in 5:40.70, while The Netherlands clocked a 5:45.42 in sixth.For more information, visit usrowing.org and for complete results, visit worldrowing.com.Courtesy U.S. Rowing.
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