Former Harvard Rowers Excel at World Championships

The journey started as a trip to the other land down under.

It ended with the US women's 8+ at the top of the world.

Winning both of its races with open water, the U.S. squad proved to be peerless at the World Rowing Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand.

The U.S. women's heat-winning time of 6:00.52 was a little over a second faster than the 6:01.71 time Canada posted to win its heat. The narrowness between the two crews suggested a tense fight for the gold.

Instead the U.S. took the lead in the first 500 and never looked back. The Canadians were able to stay within a second of the U.S. for the first 1000, but the U.S. used its superior stamina to walk on its continental neighbors in the third 500, finishing that frame with a lead of nearly four seconds, a margin that the U.S. would hold to the finish.

The race gave Radcliffe alum and U.S. five-seat Esther Lofgren '07-'09 her first senior world championship.

Follow the jump to read more about the men's events.

MEN'S 4-

Henrik Rummel '09 may not have added another gold to his already-full trophy case, but the former Harvard rower still proved himself to be among the world's best.

Competing in the 4- for the U.S. men's national team, Rummel placed fifth in the A final. The straight four qualified for the A Final by route of a win in the Repechage, in which the U.S. beat the Italian entry by less than a second.

In the finals, the U.S. once again beat the Italian squad, this time by almost six seconds.

France took gold in the event.

MEN'S 1x

The top Crimson alum heading into the World Championships, Canadian Malcolm Howard '05 was the only one not to make the A Final. The 2008 Gold Medalist finished fifth in the C Final in a time of 7:22.19.

Howard was relegated to the C Final following a fifth place finish in heats and a fourth place finish in the Repechage.

It was a disappointing trip for a rower who was seemingly invincible rowing in eights. But with the London Olympics two years away, Howard has plenty of time to perfect his skills in the single—or to return to his old trade, the 8+.