July 12, 2012

World Rowing Under-23 Championship Men's Pair Heat 1 Results

TRAKAI, Lithuania - Stanford junior Austin Hack, along with partner Dariush Aghai, advanced to the semifinals of the men's pair competition at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania Thursday.

The U.S. pair engaged in a highly-entertaining and tense stroke-for-stroke battle with its German counterpart in Thursday's heat, with the German crew nipping the Americans by just nine-tenths of a second.

Setting themselves apart in the elite portion of the 18-boat field, Hack and Aghai slugged it out over the entire 2,000-meter course with the Germans. The German boat held a slim 0.3-second edge at the halfway point, but Hack and Aghai slid ahead by fractions of a second entering the final 500-meter sprint.

The Germans would make the final, decisive push, however, crossing the line in 6:43.97, just ahead of Hack and Aghai's time of 6:44.89.

The two boats will be placed into separate semifinals and will aim for a decisive rematch in the Grand Final.