Aug. 22, 2016
By Alan Wasielewski
Three athletes connected with the University of Notre Dame rowing team began their competition at the 2016 World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands over the past 48 hours. Sophomore Molly Pierce took part in the United States Under-23 Lightweight Quadruple Sculls, 2016 graduate Ellen Gleadow is part of Team Canada and the Under-23 Lightweight Double Sculls and 2014 graduate Molly Bruggeman as part of Team USA’s Women’s Four.
Bruggeman enjoyed the best showing of the day, helping the U.S. Women’s Four advance to the finals on Aug. 25 with a victory in their heat (6:41.88), besting Belarus by four seconds.
Gleadow and her partner in the Canadian Lightweight Double Sculls, Jennifer Casson, finished third in their heat (7:16.57), then improved to first in the Repechage (7:14.08) to advance to the semifinals on Aug. 23. If they can finish in the top three in the semifinal, they will move on to the finals on Aug. 26.
BLW2x win rep and move to semi A/B pic.twitter.com/ah6v7RvoAd
— RowToPodium (@RowToPodium) August 22, 2016
Pierce and the U.S. Lightweight Quadruple Sculls finished fifth in their first heat (7:04.07) but improved to 6:47.66 to finish fourth in the Repechage. The boat will compete in the B Final on Aug. 25.
You can follow along with both the 2016 U-23 World Championships and the 2016 World Championships at www.worldrowing.com.
Alan Wasielewski is an Associate Athletics Communication Director at the University of Notre Dame. He works primarily with the men’s basketball and rowing team. A 2000 graduate of the University, Wasielewski is entering his 16th year at Notre Dame, working in both the multimedia productions and athletics communications offices in his time on campus.