POZNAN, Poland – The 2018 World Rowing Under-23 Championships came to a close Sunday with 13 Huskies earning medals, including six in the United States men's eight that won gold and three in the American women's eight, which earned the bronze.
 
The U.S. men set a new under-23 world record, as did UW's Anna Thornton '19, who won gold in the Great Britain women's double sculls.
 
The Sunday success brought the Husky medal count to 14 in total, as a UW oarsman also won a bronze medal on Saturday. On the final day of the regatta, UW men and women earned medals in the women's double sculls and men's and women's eights, and also rowed in A finals in the men's single sculls and the men's four.
 
The United States men's eight included six UW athletes: coxswain Rielly Milne '18 and rowers Chris Carlson '19, Andrew Gaard '19, Samuel Halbert '20, Arne Landboe '18, and Madison Molitor '19. The U.S. crew was also coached by Washington men's head coach Michael Callahan.
 
The American eight led at each 500-meter marker and finished with a time of 5:22.48, setting a new world record for an under-23 men's eight. Great Britain, with Husky Harvey Kay '20 in the two seat, finished in a virtual dead heat with Romania for the silver medal, both recording times of 5:24.930. Kay and the Brits were awarded the silver, while Husky Gert-Jan van Doorn '21 and his Netherlands eight finished in sixth place.
 
"It was really fantastic conditions at the start," Milne told USRowing.org. "We were maybe two seats down for a while until we started to get a rhythm going and then we started taking the momentum. We did our most work (in the second 500). By the third and last 500, the water started getting choppy, and it was hard to pick up that momentum again, so we really just had to ride it out.
 
"It's fantastic," said Milne of winning gold. "This is my fourth year on the under 23 team, my last one. I knew great things were going to happen as soon as I saw that selection camp was in Seattle, and I saw the list of names and experienced guys. This summer's been fantastic."
 
In the women's eight final, the United States crew featured Huskies in the three stern seats: stroke Brooke Pierson '18, seven-seat Elise Beuke '19 and six-seat Marlee Blue '19, while incoming UW freshman Lisa Goossens '22 rowed in the Netherlands shell.
 
The American boat took the lead through 500 and 1,000 meters, but in the third 500, Canada moved to the front, with the Netherlands coming on in the final 500 to finish second. The U.S. women won the bronze medal in a final time of 6:08.04. Canada (6:04.61) won the gold and the Dutch (6:06.58) grabbed the silver medal.
 
The women's double sculls final featured three entries with Huskies as Thornton raced for Great Britain, Valentina Iseppi '20 for Italy and Sofia Asoumanaki '21 for Greece.
 
Thornton and her partner, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne, who won the Stonor Challenge Trophy (women's double sculls) at this summer's Henley Royal Regatta, led for the entire 2,000 meters to set a new under-23 world record with a time of 6:47.03.
 
Iseppi and her boatmate spent the first half of the race in fourth place, but moved into medal position in the third 500 and held off teammate Asoumanaki and the Greek double to win the bronze. The Italian double finished less than a second behind silver medalists Germany, while Greece finished in fourth.
 
"I wasn't quite sure what was happening in the race," Thornton said to WorldRowing.com. "We stayed internal and inside the boat. Our middle part of the race was very strong and we stayed in contention. It hasn't quite sunk in yet, I'm not sure what's going on!"
 
"We know that our starts aren't so fast and we were expecting that," Iseppi said. "Around the 1,000-meter mark, Greece started to make a move, so we went with them and kept going and had a great finish."
 
Washington's Ben Davison '19 took fourth place in the men's single sculls final. Unbeaten in his heat, quarterfinal and semifinal races, Davison was in silver medal position at 1,000 meters and was rowing third at 1,500, but Bulgarian Boris Yotov rowed the fastest final final 500 of the event to edge Davison for the bronze. Canada and Germany took first and second, respectively.
 
UW's Elijah Maesner '19 rowed in the United States men's four, which finished in fourth place in its A final. The U.S. crew held third at 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters, but New Zealand overtook the Americans in the final quarter of the race to win the bronze. Romania won the gold and Great Britain took the silver medal.
 
On Saturday, the regatta came to a close for two other Huskies. Chase Deitner '21 won the bronze medal for the United States in the lightweight men's quad sculls and Canadian Nick Everett '21 finished first in the C final in the quad sculls. Additionally, the U.S. men's coxed four, coached by UW assistant Sergio Espinoza, won the gold medal.
 
Here's a list of Washington rowers who competed at the Under-23 Worlds, with their finish.
 
Women's Double Sculls (BW2x)
Anna Thornton '19, GB – Gold medal
Valentina Iseppi '20, ITA – Bronze medal
Sofia Asoumanaki '21, GRE – Finished 4th in A final
 
Men's Eight (BM8+)
Rielly Milne '18, Chris Carlson '19, Andrew Gaard '19, Samuel Halbert '20, Arne Landboe '18, Madison Molitor '19, USA – Gold medal
Harvey Kay '20, GB – Silver medal
Gert-Jan van Doorn '21, NED – Finished 6th in A final
 
Women's Eight (BW8+)
Lisa Goossens '22, NED – Silver medal
Elise Beuke '19, Marlee Blue '19, Brooke Pierson '18, USA – Bronze medal
 
Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x)
Chase Deitner '21, USA – Bronze medal
 
Men's Four (BM4-)
Elijah Maesner '19, USA – Finished 4th in A final
 
Men's Single Sculls (BM1x)
Ben Davison '19, USA – Finished 4th in A final
 
Men's Quadruple Sculls (BM4x)
Nick Everett '21, CAN – Finished first in C final