ITHACA, N.Y. -- The men's four boat featuring Michael Grady '19 advanced to the A final, while Tracy Eisser '12 will head to the repechage after placing fourth in her heat in the pairs competition on Saturday morning to kick off the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. 

Rowing on the Sea Forest Waterway, Grady's four advanced to Wednesday's final after taking second to Australia while crossing the line in 5:57.27, three seconds behind the winner. Australia and the U.S. took command of the top two positions in the first 500 meters, looking to secure the qualification spots early in the race. The two boats continued to pull away from the rest of the field through the middle 1,000 meters. During the third quarter of the race, the U.S. cut into the Australians' lead slightly, but Australia met the challenge and closed out the win.
 
 "It's just fun," Grady said. "You've got to remember that this is just pure racing at its finest. There's not many people here, so it's just like the true nature of racing – six crews across, going against each other. It's a whole lot of fun, and you just have to remember that's why we are here. We want to race."

Eisser and partner Megan Kalmoe will head to Saturday's repechage after taking fourth. The top three boats advanced to the semifinals. The tandem dropped to fifth off the start and were unable to get back into contact with the leading crews. Canada took the lead in the first 500 meters over Romania and was able to hold the top spot the entire way down the course, finishing with a time of 7:18.34. Romania finished second in a 7:20.36, with Italy in third. The U.S. clocked a 7:26.95 and will take on Ireland, China and Greece in the repechage. This is Eisser's second consecutive Olympic Games appearance.
 
Eisser and Malmoe will be back in action on Sunday, July 25 at 9:50 a.m. Tokyo time (8:50 p.m. onm Saturday, July 24 ET). Grady's A Final will occur on Wednesday, July 28 at 10:10 a.m. Tokyo time (9:10 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27 ET).

Portions of this story courtesy of US Rowing