By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
A pair of Bahamian athletes are taking to their boats against the top international competitors at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida.
Michael Knowles and Emily Morley are among the field of 1,700 competitors in the week-long event hosted at Nathan Benderson Park in its return to the United States for the first time in over 20 years.
Knowles was the first to take on "America's Course" in the preliminary heats of the Men's Single Sculls on Sunday afternoon.
On day one, cloudy skies were accompanied by a tailwind heading down the regatta course early on but eventually settled down to flat water for the heats.
The Men's Sculls were the biggest field in the regatta with 40 countries represented.
Knowles finished fifth in heat four on Sunday afternoon with a time of 8:59.27 seconds.
Sverri Nielson of Denmark was the top finisher in 7:04.48, followed by Brian Rosso of Argentina in 7:10.81, Ryuta Arakawa of Japan in 7:14.34 and David Prada of Spain, fourth in 7:19.61.
Both Bahamian rowers were in action yesterday on day two of the championships under hot, humid and sunny conditions.
In yeterday's repéchage stage, Knowles finished sixth in race four in 8:58.51. Michal Clougher of the United States led most of the way and finished first in 7:04.66, Quentin Antognelli of Monaco was second in 7:08.95, Maksym Rashchepkin of the Ukraine was third in 7:17.69, Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan was third in 7:25.90 and Privel Hinkati of Benin finished fifth in 7:27.13.
Morley also made her debut in the Women's Single Sculls. She finished fifth in heat four in 8:38.57.
Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland led wire to wire in 7:26.22. The World Rowing Cup III champion and Olympian qualified with the fastest time in the round.
Sanita Puspure of Ireland was second in 7:27.11, Hannah Osborne of New Zealand was third in 7:47.33 and Elza Gulebe of Latvia finished fourth in 8:11.56.
Full results, live video streaming and race reports can be found at www.worldrowing.com
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