Men’s 8 wins repechage, gets into final

Rowing

The U.S. men’s eight crew advanced to the final with a win in the second-chance race, keeping alive hopes of defending the Olympic title. Three members from the 2004 team are back.

The men’s eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney (Lansdowne, Pa.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Josh Inman (Hillsboro, Ore.), Steven Coppola (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.), Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), Micah Boyd (St. Paul, Minn.), Matt Schnobrich (St. Paul, Minn.) and Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) advanced to Sunday’s final by clocking a 5:38.95 to win the repechage.

The crew led through the first half of the race, according to the Web site USrowing.org, but entered the final 500 meters trailing Australia by 0.91 seconds. However, the Americans responded with a strong sprint to win the race by 1.36 seconds. Australia, The Netherlands and Poland also qualified for the final from the repechage.