This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Norwalk Scores and Standings: Sept. 1

Your interactive, daily digest for all Norwalk scores, schedules and standings — and a place for you to add information and images for all youth sports

The Daily Sports Digest is designed for you to add your best photo and/or video to share (instructions here). If you see anything in our scores, standings, or schedules that requires updating, please e-mail sports editor Bob Birge at bob.birge@hotmail.com

1. U.S Men's Eight Fails to Advance at World Rowing Championships

The U.S. men’s eight crew failed to advance out of the semifinal on Wednesday at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia as the team finished fourth and missed the first-level final.

Find out what's happening in Norwalkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The crew, of which Norwalk's Dan Walsh is a member, still has a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in London next summer. However, a boat must finish in the top seven spots in the world championships to achieve that goal. 

By not making the finals, the margin for error becames very narrow as the U.S. team now needs to win the "B" final on Thursday or wait for the second-chance qualifying regatta next May.

Find out what's happening in Norwalkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This regatta is not over,” Walsh told USA Rowing. “We have to qualify this boat for the Olympics and that’s the most important thing right now. So everyone is going to have to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and go out and race as hard as they can tomorrow. We’ve got to step it up. Next year is the one that really counts. We have to qualify this boat for the USA.”

The U.S. finished in a time of 5:34.07. Germany won in 5:29.05, followed by The Netherlands in 5:30.09 and Poland in 5:30.75.

“It’s tough to tell what happened,” added Walsh, a 10-year veteran on the U.S. national team. “We executed our race plan. Everyone put in the effort. Of course there are things you could do better if you don’t win. It’s hard to put your finger on it right now. Our competition is stiff, so those boats were faster than us."

The U.S. will race against crews from Czech Republic, France, China, Ukraine and New Zealand.

2. Vineyard Yacht Race Gets Under Way Friday

The 77th annual Stamford Yacht Club Vineyard race gets under way on Friday.

More than 90 boats from Fairfield and Westchester Counties will participate in the 238-mile race, which takes sailors to Buzzards Bay in Cape Cod and back to the Stamford Yacht Club.

After Irene hit, there was some concern that the race might have to be cancelled. However, the SYC received minimal damage, allowing the race to begin on time.

First contested in 1932, the Vineyard Race takes place annually on Labor Day weekend.

The fastest time to complete the course was set by Blue Yankee in 2007. Skippered by Bob and Farley Towse of Stamford, it covered the course in 20 hours, 20 minutes and 15 seconds.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?