Video: Ryan Monaghan reflects on his first World Championship experience

Oklahoma City resident, Ryan Monaghan, represented the United States in the Men's Pair event at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand this month. Monaghan, with teammate Deaglan McEachern,earned their berth to the team with a win at the 2010 World Championships Trials. Monaghan is a first-time national team member, while McEachern finished ninth in the quadruple sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Championships.

In their first race of the regatta, the duo advanced to Semi-Final A of the Men's Pair event by placing 3rd in Heat 2 with a time of 6:37.20. The defending World Champions from New Zealand finished in first place with a time of 6:25.12, followed by Serbia in 6:35.32.

Despite a hard fought race, Monaghan and McEachern did not qualify for the A final of this Olympic class event, finishing fifth in a time of 7:20.64. From the 500-meter mark, the top three crews – New Zealand, Great Britain and Italy – separated from the pack and pushed into a lead of several boat lengths of open water. New Zealand won with a time of 6:50.88.

In Final B of the Men'a pair the crew started in fourth and rowed into third through the middle 1,000 meters, finishing behind Spain for an ninth place world ranking in a time of 6:39.34.

Celebrating a Season of Success at the Oklahoma River

Video: The last beam is lifted to roof of the Chesapeake Finish Tower, completing the entire frame. A glowing holiday tree lights up as the beam reaches the top. Architect Rand Elliot provides a toast to the incredible growth of Oklahoma City's acclaimed Boathouse District.

Photo: OKC athletes start the holiday season with a bang - erg testing in the Chesapeake Boathouse

Final Worlds Update

The men’s eight that had rowed to a stunning win in the reps on Thursday, could not duplicate the feat and finished sixth. Germany snatched gold with a time of 5:33.84, followed by Great Britain in 5:34.46 and Australia in 5:35.96. The U.S. crew of coxswain Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) finished with a time of 5:40.55.

While the men failed to medal, the U.S. returned both the four and eight to the final, after a ninth place finish last year for the eight.

The men’s lightweight eight crew of coxswain Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Matt Kochem (Burnt Hills, N.Y.), Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.), Matt Muffelman (Mathews, Va.), Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.), Michael Kerrigan (Charlottesville, Va.), Julian Bowling (Shelby, N.C.), Bob Duff (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) and Skip Dise (Beverly Hills, Mich) rowed next, but could not get to the podium either, finishing last in a five-boat race with a time of 5:57.65.

Germany won gold in a time of 5:48.61, Australia was second in 5:50.27 and Italy finished third in 5:52.25.

Justin Stangel Signing Off From New Zealand

Well its been about 7 years since I have raced in an international final (in 2003 I was in the USA junior 8+) and it was just as I remembered it. Everyone wants to win and everyone has the skill to do it so it depends on who shows up on the day. Yesterday that happened to be the Australians who jumped to an early lead with Italy in the first 500m of the race. We have had good starts in training and racing so this caught us a little off guard and might have kept us a little higher in rate but we were still in the race. As we got into the second 500 the conditions started to bounce us around a bit, there was a decent crosswind that swirled a bit from head to tail all the way down the course. I thought we responded well during this and made the right technical corrections that allowed us to keep pushing hard. Coming through the 1000m mark we were pretty far off the lead pace, but that had never stopped us before and we still had a bit of overlap with the Germans next to us.

Coming into the the third 500 we knew we needed to start making moves to get ourselves in contention for a medal. This part of the course had the most wind and Nareg and I handled it pretty well but we weren't able to make up as much as we would have liked and have to give credit to the other crews who rowed a good race through this point. If you have watched any of our races from trials you know that we have a furious sprint when we put our minds to it and that was no different today. After fighting the crews and conditions all the way down the course we started to bump it up at 600m and then again about every 200m until the finish. The field narrowed significantly at the finish and I remember Steve, our cox, say that if we were able to catch the Germans we might be able to get the Italians as well. We gave it everything we had, but came up just short this time. No one wants to finish 4th in any race especially in the one with 4 boats, but those were some quality crews and this was a good learning experience for everyone involved. After the race we tried to think of things we would have done differently and couldn't really come up with anything except maybe a better start and even then that was pretty good for us, we truly left it all on the water - no regrets.

Today is the last day of racing at the world championships and looks to be an exciting one with both the men and women race the 8+ this afternoon. We have experienced nothing but the best hospitality from the host country and if you ever have a chance to come visit this fine country I highly recommend it, especially the South Island. This will probably be it for my posts of worlds this year. I can not thank everyone enough for their support to help get me to this point. Especially to my parents Nan and Jim for their unwavering support and brother Griffin for pushing me to keep going (he is now hooked on triathlons, I'm jealous). Also to everyone at the OKC High Performance Center and the OKC community (Big shout out and thank you to the Skirvin Hilton!) for being so welcoming and helpful to us athletes as we train hard for our Olympic ambitions. I cannot forget everyone from the SARA community that has helped in many different ways, but especially helping to fund this amazing trip to worlds. I could go on and on... Thank you everyone who isn't mentioned above, we couldn't achieve this without support like yours.

Again this was a great racing experience and now its back to work for this short year, second NSR is in just over 6 months.


On to faster times

Justin

Pictures from New Zealand !!

Worlds Update

The lightweight men’s pair duo of Oklahoma City's Mike Nucci (Blue Bell, Pa.) and Evan Tsourtsoulas (Kastoria, Greece) raced in the B final, finishing third behind China and Switzerland and ninth overall in the regatta with a time of 7:37.54. China finished in 7:30.36.

The men’s pair with coxswain crew of Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) and OKC resident Justin Stangel (Madison, Wis.) got of the line in fourth in the four boat race, and could not change the position, finishing with a time of 7:07.88. Australia won in 703.32, followed by Italy in 7:04.38 and Germany in 7:06.20.

Leading off the day for the U.S. in the B finals was the lightweight men’s four. The crew of Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), OKC's Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.), Nick LaCava (Weston, Conn.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) started fourth, climbed into third in the middle half, but fell back and finished fourth in a time of 6:05.57 to capture 10th place overall. France won in a time of 6:02.19.

The Oklahoma City men’s pair duo of Ryan Monaghan (Rochester, N.Y.) and Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.) started in fourth and rowed into third through the middle 1,000 meters, finishing behind Spain for an eighth place world ranking in a time of 6:39.34. Russia won in a time of 6:37.33.

Peszek and USA Men's 8+ into Medal Round

In a morning that had not gone particularly well for the U.S. crews before it at the 2010 World Rowing Championships, the U.S. men’s eight rowed a stunning repechage, pulling through Canada in the final 500 meters and holding off a late charge by New Zealand to win its race and return the U.S. to the final again.

After finishing third in the heat on Tuesday, there was trepidation among the U.S. contingent that the crew, which has been rebuilding throughout the year, could finish in the first two spots and make a return to the top.

The belief in the talent was there, it was just that it would take an incredible performance to beat the Canadians and the home favorite Kiwis.

As expected, Canada jumped into the lead off the line and the crew of DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) went after them.

Canada led right into the third quarter of the course, with the U.S. trading seats beside them. But when New Zealand started to challenge, the Canadians faded and the U.S. went high and hard, finishing a hair ahead of the Kiwi boat in a time of 5:38.48 to 5:39.08.

Now the eight will race the final Sunday in the last race of the regatta and face New Zealand, Australia and The Netherlands, which finished first and second in the second rep, in addition to heat winners Germany and Great Britain.

Seven U.S. crews raced today. In addition to the men’s eight, the lightweight men’s four, the men’s and women’s single sculls, men’s pair, arms-only men’s single sculls and the legs, trunk and arms mixed four with coxswain also saw action.

The lightweight men’s four crew of Will Daly (Vail, Colo.), Oklahoma City's Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.), Nick LaCava (Weston, Conn.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.), topped the day’s card, racing in the second semifinal, but the crew could not find its way into the top three.

Falling behind off the line, the U.S. made a push in the middle and seemed prepared to threaten the lead boats, but the attack fell apart in the third quarter of the race. They fell back into fifth, finishing in a time of 6:30. Great Britain won with a time of 6:20.48.

Following the lightweight four in the first semifinal of the men’s pair, the Oklahoma City crew of Ryan Monaghan (Rochester, N.Y.) and Deaglan McEachern (Portsmouth, N.H.) also missed the opportunity to race in the final, finishing fifth in a time of 7:20.64.

From the 500-meter mark, the top three crews – New Zealand, Great Britain and Italy – separated from the pack and pushed into a lead of several boat lengths of open water. New Zealand won with a time of 6:50.88.

More Worlds Coverage From NZ

The men’s eight, with Oklahoma City's Tom Peszek, raced in the second of two heats, finishing third and moving to a repechage Thursday.

The U.S. crew of coxswain Ned DelGuercio (Media, Pa.), Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Jason Read (Ringoes, N.J.), Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) fell to fourth place in the first three-quarters of the race and then pushed through The Netherlands in the final 500 meters and closed on Australia, which finished second.

The U.S. clocked in with a 5:28.57. Great Britain, the only crew in the heat to advance straight to the final, won with a time of 5:25.34. Germany won the first heat to advance with a time of 5:24.62.

In the boats that raced for lanes, the men’s pair with coxswain team of Stephen Young (Tampa, Fla.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) and Justin Stangel (Madison, Wis.) finished fourth out of four with a time of 6:58.18. Australia won in 6:55.11.

In the first race of the day for the U.S., the lightweight men’s pair team of Mike Nucci (Blue Bell, Pa.) and Evan Tsourtsoulas (Kastoria, Greece), finished fourth in the second repechage with a time of 6:45.98 and were relegated to the B final Friday. Italy won the race with a time of 6:34.77.

2010 World Rowing Championships U.S. Results
Lake Karapiro, New Zealand
Tuesday, November 2

Lightweight Men’s Pair: Repechage 2. (Top two advance to semifinals)
1. Italy - 6:34.77
2. Canada - 6:34.81
3. China - 6:37.20
4. U.S. - 6:45.98

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls: Repechage 2. (Top three advance to semifinals)
1. Norway - 6:21.80
2. U.S. - 6:22.14
3. Greece - 6:22.52

Women’s Single Sculls: Repechage 1. (Top three advance to semifinals)
1. U.S. - 7:50.56
2. Ukraine – 8:02.99
3. Spain – 8:42.45

Men’s Single Sculls: Repechage 4. (Top two advance to semifinals)
1. Belgium – 6:49.82
2. U.S. – 6:52.55
3. The Netherlands – 6:54.21

Men’s Pair with Coxswain: Preliminary race for lanes.
1. Australia – 6:55.11
2. Germany – 6:56.18
3. Italy – 6:56.46
4. U.S. 6:58.18

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls: Preliminary race for lanes.
1. China – 6:35.27
2. Great Britain - 6:38.75
3. Italy – 6:46.97
4. Germany - 7:04.03
5. Thailand - 7:12.48
6. U.S. - 7:37.75

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls: Preliminary race for lanes.
1. Italy – 5:57.07
2. France – 5:58.40
3. Denmark – 6:00.82
4. Brazil – 6:01.30
5. U.S. – 6:13.05
6. Germany – 7:05.72

Women’s Eight: Heat one of two. (Top two advance to the final)
1. U.S. – 6:00.52
2. Great Britain – 6:05.38
3. The Netherlands – 6:09.79

Men’s Eight: Heat two of two. (Winner advances to the final)
1. – Great Britain – 5:24.34
2. – Australia – 5:27.94
3. – U.S. – 5:28.57

Men’s Arms Only Single Sculls. Repechage one. (First and second advance to final)
1. Brazil – 4:57.77
2. Ukraine – 5:01.17
3. Ireland – 5:02.66
4. U.S. – 5:06.35
5. Poland – 5:10.31

Legs/Truck/Arms Four with Coxswain. (Top two advance to the final)
1. Ireland – 3:33.98
2. U.S. – 3:34.10
3. Italy – 3:35.51

Guest Blogger: Justin Stangel Recaps His First Race in New Zealand

Today was the third day of World Championship racing and our first day to race. On the first day of the event they only ran 5 races, as the wind that had been held at bay finally came into town and with some force. We had practised in the conditions and needless to say it was a bit dicey for us in small boats but the bigger boats seemed ok. It was a bit tricky docking because you were in a direct cross of white caps that would either slam your shell into the dock or blow you too far on the downwind side for a coach to catch you without some athletic movements. After Sunday though racing has been run very smoothly with the regatta sending all of Sunday and Mondays racing down, with one minor slip up in the starting signals in the final adaptive race. Needless to say everyone was a little impressed.

As for today we went out for a light swing row before racing started, which is pretty easy here because races start pretty late in the day so you don't have to wake up early (there is a reason for this, we were told that racing cannot happen between 9-10 because the sun is directly opposite the finish line tower and it messes up the high speed camera for close races). By the end of the day everyone would have raced to one degree or another with the final heats starting today. Our race went down just after 11:15 and conditions were fast with a solid tailwind blowing and not much chop, if it weren't for the cold water there would be world best times for sure. We had a decent race with a fast start, it is interesting racing just for lanes with the outcome not having much significance except maybe psychological and maybe with lanes depending on who you talk to. With that being said it was tight racing - all crews were within 3 seconds and us on the back end of that. On to Saturday and the real race where everyone will be faster.

The rest of the week has been the talk today with the weather predictions coming in that Thursday and Friday might be really bad with a major storm supposedly coming. We might see some schedule adjustments to compensate for this, but there are about 100 different responses to what that might be. Team USA is still in high spirits after racing, with everyone still in the mix and looking to keep showing improved speed as semis and finals start working their way forward.

I hope everyone is doing well back home in the USA. It still feels a bit odd that worlds are after HOCR let alone Halloween.

On to faster times

Justin