Two Men's Rowers Qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics
June 20, 2008 | Men's Rowing
June 20, 2008
BOSTON - Alumnus Jozef Klaassen (Whakatane, New Zealand) and current Terrier Meindert Klem (Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Netherlands) rowed in the Netherlands' eight that qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the Qualification Regatta on June 18 in Poznan, Poland.
The two Terriers may also be joined at the Games by alumni Will Daly and Florian Mennigen, who are hoping to be selected to the US and German teams, respectively.
The Netherlands eight won its heat on June 16 in a time of 5:43.64. The eight led all the way and won by open water. Two days later in the "A" final, the Netherlands again led from the start. The Dutch and Russian eights were virtually even at the 500m, with just hundredths of a second separating the crews. But by the 1000m mark, the Netherlands boat had just over a half-length edge on Russia. It was all the Dutch needed as they won by open water in 5:34.75.
