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NEW CANAAN, Conn. New Canaan's Andrew Campbell once again broke new ground Sunday in Amsterdam, winning bronze in the Lightweight Men's Single Sculls for the United States at the World Rowing U-23 Championships.
According to www.usrowing.org, Campbell's third place finish was the first medal ever for the U.S. in this event and was only the fourth time the U.S. had entered a sculler in the lightweight men's single. The previous highest finish was recorded by John Graves, who finished 11th last year. Graves is the cousin of Rowayton's Brian deRegt, a USRowing senior national team member.
Last year Campbell, a rising sophomore at Harvard and a member of the Men's Lightweight Team, also recorded a first, winning USA a bronze in the Men's Single Sculls at the Junior World Rowing Championships. Campbell also rowed for Maritime Rowing Club.
His road to this year's final was relatively easy, winning his heat and quarterfinals and finishing second in the semifinal.
In the final, Peru's Renzo Leon Garcia was first off the start, leading by a bow ball over Bulgaria's Nedelcho Vasilev within the first few strokes. Coming across the 500-meter mark, Campbell was in second behind France's Jeremie Azou, one of the country's top lightweight scullers with two silver world championships medals under his belt.
Campbell and his fellow medalists built a six-second lead on the second half of the final field by the race's midway point. With a time of 6:57.00, he finished 8.7 seconds ahead of the fourth-place Peruvian athlete and two seconds back of the silver medalist from Greece. France's Jeremie Azou won gold and a new Under-23 World best time in a field totaling 25 competitors.
Campbell's medal-winning performance kicked off the final day of racing in Amsterdam. Under rainy and windy conditions, the USRowing team brought home four medals, including a gold and new world record in the Men's Eight and Women's Pair and bronze in the Women's Eight. The Men's Quad finished fourth. Former Maritime Rowing Club rower Ben Dann, hailing from Pound Ridge and rowing in his first international competition, held his own in the largest field of the regatta, finishing 5th in the B final or 11th overall out of 28 entries.
Next up for USRowing National Teams, including many rowers from Fairfield County, are the World Championship Trials on Aug. 1 at Mercer Lake, N.J.; the World Rowing Junior Championships at the Olympic Rowing Venue in Eton, England, beginning Aug. 3; and the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, on Aug. 28.
For all Rowing results go to www.row2k.com/results. For complete media guide, athlete bios and information on upcoming events, visit http://www.usrowing.org
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