First Medal for the NYAC
Sunday, July 25th
By James O’Brien
Swimming – Bronze for Catie DeLoof
Swimmer Catie DeLoof is the first NYAC athlete in Tokyo to advance the Club’s medal count, securing a bronze medal courtesy of her contribution to the US women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team. Catie swam in Saturday’s prelims in which the team advanced to last night’s final (Sunday morning in Japan). In that round, the US team of Olivia Smoliga, DeLoof, Allison Schmitt and Natalie Hinds went 3:34.80 to finish as the fifth fastest relay team. In the final, an epic battle dominated by the world record-setting Australian team, the US fought tooth and nail with Canada, losing to our northern neighbors by a hair’s breadth. The foursome of Erika Brown, Abbey Weitzeil, Natalie Hinds, and Simone Manuel posted a time of 3:32.81, just 0.03 behind Canada, which took the silver medal in 3:32.78. Australia took control of the race on the second leg and won with a world record time of 3:29.69.
Water Polo – NYAC’s Bowen leads the Way
The USA’s men’s water polo team scored a 15-13 win over host Japan to open play this morning. Trailing 10-8 with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter, Marko Vavic started the USA comeback with a goal at 5:34. Hannes Daube scored the equalizer at 3:26, then the NYAC’s Alex Bowen tallied with 15 seconds left in the period to create a lead the USA would not surrender. Japan pulled to within one goal when Seiya Adachi made the score 14-13 with 1:49 left in the contest, but Johnny Hooper added an insurance goal with 26 seconds left to secure the victory. Bowen led all scorers with five goals, while Ben Hallock had three and Luca Cupido added two. Team USA returns to Group A play at 10:00 a.m. JT Tuesday, July 27, against South Africa.
Judo – Delgado Makes it to 16
Angelica Delgado won her first bout in the famed Budokan this morning, before being eliminated in the round of 16. Competing in the 52kg class, Delgado defeated Portugal’s Joana Ramos by ippon in golden score time, but fell by ippon to Reka Pupp of Hungary. The NYAC’s judo competition will continue on Wednesday (July 28th) when Colton Brown competes in the men’s 90kg class.
Rowing – Kalmoe and Eisser Make Semis
Rowing is always subject to weather; such is the case in Tokyo. Tuesday’s racing schedule has been cancelled due to forecasted bad weather. Tuesday’s originally scheduled medal races for the women’s quadruple sculls have been moved to Wednesday, as have the semi-finals in the women’s pair. Click here for the most up-to-date schedule on the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 web site.
In NYAC news, the women’s pair, the US/NYAC duo of Megan Kalmoe and Tracy Eisser finished second in their repechage to advance to the semi-finals. With three to advance, Kalmoe and Eisser got off the line in fourth position before moving into third place in the second 500 meters. Ireland held a slight lead at the 500-meter mark before Greece moved into the top spot. The US boat overtook Ireland just after the midway point, closing the gap on the leaders, but Greece was able to withstand the challenge over the final 500 meters to claim the victory. Greece clocked a 7:28.00 to finish 1.87 seconds ahead of the U.S., which clocked a 7:29.87. Kalmoe and Eisser will take on Italy, Romania, New Zealand, Russia and Spain in the second of two semi-finals, scheduled for Tuesday evening (EST).
The women’s four, comprising the NYAC’s Grace Luczak and Kendall Chase plus Claire Collins and Madeleine Wanamaker, finished fifth in their repechage and now will race in the B final for places 7-10. With two to advance to the final, the US boat got off the line in third position behind Poland and Great Britain. During the second quarter of the race, the British crew took the lead, with the Polish crew in second and Romania moving into third. The Romanians tried to chase down the leading crews over the back half of the race, but Great Britain and Poland were able to hold on to advance to the final. Great Britain finished with a time of 6:46.20, with Poland crossing in a 6:46.57. Romania finished third, less than a second behind. The US finished with a time of 6:53.26 and will take on Romania, Canada and Denmark in the B final, scheduled for Tuesday evening (EST)
The women’s quadruple sculls crew of the NYAC’s Ellen Tomek and Meghan O’Leary, plus Alie Rusher and Cicely Madden finished sixth in their repechage and also will race in the B final for places 7-10. Australia led a tight, four-way race, through the midway point before Italy pulled ahead in the third 500 meters. However, the Australian crew was able to respond and retook the lead in the final 250 meters, winning the race in a 6:36.67. Italy took the second spot to also qualify for the final, finishing less than a second behind Australia. The US finished with a time of 6:50.74 and will race New Zealand, Great Britain, and France in the B final.
Racing will resume on Wednesday at 8:10 a.m. local time (7:10 p.m. EST on Tuesday).
NBC’s broadcast schedule and links to NBC’s live streaming are available on USRowing’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage page, and click here for USRowing’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage page for athlete bios, articles, photos and more.
Fencing – Kelley Hurley: “Live on the Edge. Die on the Edge.”
The NYAC’s epéeist Kelley Hurley placed in the top 16 on the opening day of the Games on Saturday.
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A 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, Hurley finished 12thoverall in Tokyo, her best individual result at the Games. The NYAC woman entered the Games as the #16 seed and earned a bye into the table of 32 where she faced three-time Senior World medalist Erika Kirpu (EST) – a matchup that would be challenging, but came as a relief for Hurley, who had the potential of facing her Rio and NYAC teammate and close friend, Kat Holmes, in the opener.
“Coming into the Olympics, I didn’t know who I was going to have first round – if I was going to have Kirpu or Kat,” Hurley said. “We decided to just pretend like I was going to have Kirpu, so I’ve been practicing what to do against her for the last, I don’t know, month or so, and really just been drilling it with both coaches, Andrey [Geva] and Sebastien [Dos Santos], having key things I keep reminding myself throughout the match.”
After a 4-3 lead for Hurley in the first period, Kirpu scored the first two touches in the second to take a 5-4 lead and closed the period up 8-7. Late in the third, Kirpu built a 12-10 lead, but Hurley came back with a pair of singles to tie the score at 12. After a double, Kirpu took the lead at 14-13 before Hurley picked off the single she would need to tie the score and send the bout to sudden death overtime. Although double touches earn points for each opponent in regulation, to win the bout, Hurley would need a single in less than a minute. The American took the hit she needed to claim the bout, 15-14 – and her first individual bout win in four Olympic appearances. “I’m just so happy that I did exactly what my brain told me to do because sometimes your brain can’t really talk to your body,” Hurley laughed. “I’m just so happy about the first individual win I’ve had in the Olympics.”
Hurley’s table of 16 bout would come down to the wire as well against Russian Olympic Committee’s Aizanat Murtazaeva who was fresh off an upset of World No. 1 and 2012 Olympic team silver medalist Injeong Choi (KOR) in the 32. The bout between Hurley and the Russian started slowly with a p-card being thrown before Hurley scoring twice to end the period with a 2-0 lead. After a 4-1 run by Murtazaeva in the second, Hurley fought her way back to tie the bout at 11 and send a second bout to overtime. After several nail-biting doubles, Murtazaeva earned a single to win the bout, 12-11 against Hurley who said she hesitated on the attack she needed which would be her downfall. Murtazaeva would go on to finish fourth overall.
Hurley expanded on ending her day with two bouts that came down to one touch each. “Live on the edge, die on the edge. Overtime is great when you win it, but it hurts when you lose,” she said. “But I feel like I just made one mistake there at the end and that’s just how the dice roll. Overall, I’m pretty happy with my performance. I wish I could obviously be in still, but it’s just how it is.”
Hurley will return to action on Tuesday with additional confidence for the team event.
Both of Hurley’s NYAC teammates were eliminated in the opening round, Kat Holmes and younger sister, Courtney, finishing 24th and 26th, respectively.
Holmes took on Sera Song (KOR) after a bye into the table of 32 and started the bout with a p-card for both fencers. Song increased her attacks and picked up two singles to end the period with a 2-0 lead. Holmes got on the board in the second with two touches, but Song grew her lead to 5-2. In the final period, Holmes cut Song’s lead to 11-9 and ran at her opponent several times as the clock ran out before Song closed with a 15-12 win.
An individual bronze medalist at the 2018 Senior Worlds and team bronze medalist at the 2012 Games, Courtney Hurley fenced Mingye Zhu (CHN) in the 32 and kept Zhu’s lead to one touch at 4-3 in the first period, but Zhu dominated the second period, 7-4, and doubled at the start of the third to win the bout, 15-8.
The Hurleys and Holmes will return to competition on Monday evening (EST) with replacement athlete Anna van Brummen for the women’s team epee competition. Team USA won bronze in Barcelona at the final competition before the COVID-19 shutdown and the squad is currently ranked No. 5 in the world.
Triathlon – Men this evening, Women on Monday (EST)
The impending typhoon may cause a scheduling change, but for now the men’s triathlon is scheduled to take place this evening at 5.30pm EST. Vincent Luis (FRA) is a medal contender and Morgan Pearson is in superb form. It will be a thriller.
The race will be broadcast live on USA Network and will also be available via livestream on the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com. Joanna Zeiger, 2000 U.S. Olympian, and Kelly O’Mara, Triathlete Magazine Editor-In-Chief, will provide pre- and post-race commentary from the USA Triathlon Facebook page from 4:45-5:15 p.m. EST (pre-race) and 8-8:30 p.m. EST (post-race). Click here to learn more.