July 23, 2010

BREST, Belarus - Stanford's Dane McFadden and Alex Syverson advanced with their United States teammates at the Under-23 World Championships on Friday.

The USA straight four, stroked by McFadden, led Germany for 1,800 meters before finishing one second back at the 2K finish line.

Full results can be found here: row2k.com,

"Dane and Alex today were introduced to international racing for the first time abroad," Stanford Director of Rowing and men's head coach Craig Amerkhanian, who is also serving as a U.S. coach for the Under 23s. "The result today revealed a dedicated four that has boat speed and will race for medals before this regatta is through."

The duo worked their way onto the team through the U.S. camp over the past month and with their selections to the under 23 world championship squad mark the fifth straight year that Stanford has been represented at the event.

Both having just completed their junior seasons at Stanford, McFadden and Syverson have been members of the Cardinal I Eight in each of the past two seasons. In 2009 they helped the boat to a third-place national finish at the IRA Championship Regatta as well as to a silver medal at the 2009 Pac-10 Championships.

This past season, the duo helped row the Cardinal men to a bronze-medal finish at the 2010 Pac-10 Championships.