Wolverines Begin Competition at Senior World Championships
8/25/2019 12:18:00 PM | Rowing
• World Rowing Championships Home
LINZ OTTENSHEIM, Austria -- One former and two current University of Michigan rowing standouts are competing at the 2019 Senior World Rowing Championships this week (Aug. 25-Sept. 1).
Action began on Sunday morning with the South African pair of Tayla-May Bentley and Jessica Schoonbee racing in heaats.
The duo lined up in lane four, with Chile outside in lane five, the Netherlands in lane three, the U.S. in lane two and Ireland in lane one. The top four boats in each race advanced to quarterfinals, with fifth-place finishers racing in repechages.
Bentley and Schoonbee kept tight splits with early leaders Chile and Ireland, and it became a four-way race through the second 500 meters as the American boat came on strong.
Over the final half of the race, the U.S. boat kept a high stroke rate going and took over the lead. Behind them, Ireland increased its lead over Chile to finish second, while the South African pair took fourth. All four of the top-finishing boats will race again Wednesday morning (Aug. 28).
Bentley and Schoonbee competed together earlier this summer at the U-23 World Championships where they collected a silver medal in this same event. The U-M teammates helped the 1V8 boat win Big Ten gold and place third in the nation this year.
Former U-M All-American Felice Mueller is rowing with the prestigious U.S. W8+ boat. She will begin competition with her teammates on Tuesday (Aug. 27) at 6:15 a.m.
Mueller has a wealth of international experience, including a fourth-place finish in the W2- in Riode Janiero, Brazil, at the 2016 Olympics. She has multiple medals at the World Championships and World Rowing Cup, and competed regularly for Team USA since her days as an All-American at U-M (2012).
Below are schedules for all three athletes this week:
W8+ (Women's Eight), Felice Mueller
Aug. 27, 6:15 a.m. -- Heats, Heat 1 (Lane 3), winner to finals
Aug. 29, 7:34-7:42 a.m. -- Repechages
Sept. 1, 6:06-9:02 a.m. -- A, B Finals
W2- (Women's Pair), Tayla-May Bentley and Jessica Schoonbee
Aug. 25, 4:21 a.m. -- Heats, Heat 4 (Lane 4); top four to quarterfinals
Aug. 28, 4:49-5:07 a.m. -- Quarterfinals
Aug. 29, 3:46-4:30 a.m. -- Semifinals
Aug. 30, 3:30 a.m. -- D Final
Aug. 31, 3:53-7:21 a.m. -- A, B, C Finals
Results
W2- (Women's Pair)
1. U.S.A. -- 7:12.76*
2. Ireland -- 7:13.30*
3. Chile -- 7:17.42*
4. South Africa -- 7:22.62*
5. Netherlands -- 7:31.85
* = Advance to quarterfinals
Players Mentioned
