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NEW CANAAN, Conn. Charlie Cole of New Canaan competed in the U.S. Men's 4- at the Lucerne World Cup on Sunday, and in an exciting finish came home with a bronze medal.
Charlie, an alum of New Canaan Crew and Yale Men's Rowing, teamed up with Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.) and Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.) and was among the leaders throughout the race. With Great Britain leading the entire race, the USA, Greece and Germany battled it out for the medals. Greece took silver and the USA held off a hard-charging Germany, which crossed the line a mere 0.16 seconds behind it, to win bronze. Serbia took fifth and New Zealand sixth. Great Britain won the gold medal with 5:53.84, followed by Greece at 5:56.35.
"We had a great race through the 1,500 and then got a little complacent," Cole, No. 3 in the four-man crew, said following the race, as reported on row2k.com. "All credit to the Germans, who are a great crew, but we gave away a chance to push even further up. It was still a solid race. Halfway through the regatta, if you would have said, 'You'll win the bronze medal,' we would have taken it no questions asked. We had a very tough semifinal yesterday and raced some very tough crews today, so we're pleased with the result."
Cole's was one of four US boats to medal on the final day of racing on the glacial waters of the Rotsee. The Women's 8+ held off Canada to win gold and the Women's Pair and Lightweight Double each won bronze. These results, along with three fourth-place finishes, just out of the medals, bodes well for the upcoming 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, next month. For more information, go to usrowing.org.
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