In the women’s pair, all three crews won their quarterfinals to advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals. The USA1 entry of Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) won its morning heat and then came back to win its afternoon quarterfinal. Racing in the fourth of four quarterfinals, the pair clocked a 7:12.67 to defeat Canada’s Darcy Marquardt and Jane Rumball, the defending world champions, by 1.42 seconds. Mickelson and Cooke won their heat by more than seven seconds. The USA2 boat of Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) also won both its heat and quarterfinal. Racing in the third quarterfinal, the duo defeated Denmark by nearly three seconds, clocking a 7:16.00. Lind and Francia won their heat by 1.70 seconds over Germany. Racing as USA3, Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) finished third in their heat before coming back to win their quarterfinal. Goodale and Shoop crossed the finish line with a time of 7:21.57 to win the first quarterfinal by nearly two seconds over China. The top three finishers from each of the quarterfinals advanced.

Ala Piotrowski (Manchester, N.H.) and Jennifer Kaido (West Leyden, N.Y.) won their heat of the women’s double sculls to advance directly to tomorrow’s semifinals. The duo grabbed the lead during the second quarter of the race en route to the victory. Piotrowski and Kaido finished with a time of 7:25.18, 1.44 seconds ahead of Germany’s Peggy Waleska and Manuela Lutze.

In the women’s single sculls, Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) finished second in both her heat and quarterfinal to advance to tomorrow’s semifinals. In the quarterfinal, Guerette clocked a 7:44.41 to finish behind the Czech Republic’s Mirka Knapkova, the 2006 World Championships silver medalist. Knapkova finished with a time of 7:37.73. Guerette finished behind Xiuyun Zhang in her heat. The top three finishers from each of the quarterfinals moved on to the semifinals.

The lightweight men’s four of Tom Paradiso (Blue Bell, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Colin Farrell (Oaklyn, N.J.) and Andrew Bolton (Old Lyme, Conn.) advanced to the semifinals by placing second in its repechage, or second-chance race. With only two crews advancing, the U.S. battled Austria for the second qualifying spot during the last half of the race. Austria held a slight advantage for second place heading into the final 500 meters, but the American crew pulled ahead to defeat Austria by 1.18 seconds. Italy won the repechage in a 6:09.79, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:12.01.The American boat nearly avoided racing in the repechage. In its morning heat, the quartet led France, the defending world silver medalists, until the final few strokes. The U.S. clocked a 6:14.58 to France’s 6:13.86.

More than 880 athletes from 46 nations are competing in Austria. Germany leads the way in number of entries with 37, while China has 27 boats competing. Racing continues on Saturday with more repechages and semifinals. Finals take place on Sunday. The finals will be streamed live in the United States on the World Championship Sports Network Web site at www.wcsn.com. Complete entry lists, heat sheets and results can be accessed at www.worldrowing.com.

The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas. The remaining two stages will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (June 22-24), and Lucerne (July 13-15).

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s Official Sponsor is Johnson & Johnson; its Official Suppliers are Hudson Boat Works and NIKE, Inc.; its Official Patron is Concept2; its Official Electronics Outfitter is Nielsen Kellerman; its Official Timer is Powerhouse Timing; and its Preferred Printer is Sport Graphics Printing. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation.