Goodale, Liwski are World Champions!!!

row2k video: US Women's Eight

Former Syracuse University rowers Anna Goodale ’05 and Chris Liwski '02 are both World Champions. The women's eight repeated as world champions, while the men's four with coxswain also won a gold medal on Sunday, to highlight the final day of competition at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.

The women's eight of coxswain Mary Whipple, Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Susan Francia, Anna Mickelson, Sam Magee, Anna Goodale ‘05, Lindsay Shoop and Brett Sickler clocked a 6:17.20 to defeat Romania by 1.13 seconds en route its second consecutive world title. The crew, which included eight members of last year's winning boat, got off the line well and established a 0.49-second lead on second-place Canada at the 500-meter mark. At the midway point of the race, the U.S. continued to lead the Canadians by half a second, but that's when Romania began making its charge. The defending Olympic champions clocked the fastest middle 1,000 meters to move from sixth place to second position at the 1,500-meter mark, trailing the U.S. by just one second heading into the final quarter of the race. As the crews raced towards the finish line, Romania tried to challenge the U.S., but the American boat responded and went on to win the gold medal by just over one second. Romania finished second in a time of 6:18.33, with Great Britain winning the bronze medal finishing at 6:19.66.

In the men's four with coxswain, the crew of Ned DelGuercio, Chris Liwski ‘02, Sam Burns, Dan Beery and Matt Deakin passed Serbia in the final 500 meters to win the gold medal in a time of 6:10.36. The crew led at the 500-meter mark before Serbia took the top spot in the second quarter of the race. The two crews battled it out at the head of the field during the middle 1,000 meters, with Serbia holding a 0.77-second advantage going into the final quarter of the race. That's when the veteran U.S. boat, which included two Olympic gold medalists, used its power to overtake the Serbians. The crew pulled away as it crossed the finish line, winning by 0.81 seconds. Serbia finished with a time of 6:11.17, winning the silver medal. Germany brought home the bronze medal.

"We didn't know what to expect from Serbia," Liwski said. "They played it smart in the seeding heat and didn't show any of their cards. We knew that the Dutch and Germans would be quick off the line, and we just had to expect that Serbia would be the same. We went out with the intention of taking a big lead and to just use our power and our rhythm to keep it. The moves were really effective, and Ned called a great race. He didn't call it according to plan as much what we needed in the race."

Syracuse University Athletics

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