SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Orange men’s rowing alum Mike Gennaro ’11 and his partner Ty Otto will represent the United States in the final of the men’s pair event on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guzman City, Mexico.
Gennaro and Otto moved one step closer to the gold medal on Sunday, winning their heat by more than five seconds to advance the final. The duo clocked a time of 6:45.85. Their next closest competition was Cuba at 6:51.00.
"Ty and I have invested a lot of effort and emotion into making this pair move," Gennaro told USrowing.org. "There have been just as many rough days as there have been fast days. The interesting thing about the pair is that there are only two guys involved, so accountability is split 50/50. I've been racing with Ty for a few years now and I couldn't be more confident with anyone else, and I'm unbelievably excited about having the opportunity to race in this final with him while representing the United States.”
In addition to Gennaro, fellow SU alum Josh Gautreau ’06 is also representing the U.S. at the Games. On Sunday, Gautreau rowed with Ryan Kirlin, Frank Petrucci and Rob Milam in the lightweight men’s four. The crew finished third in its heat and third in the repechage, narrowly missing a spot in the final.
Gennaro just completed a standout career for the Orange last spring. During his time on campus, he helped the varsity eight to sixth-place, eighth-place and ninth-place showings at the IRA Regatta.
Gautreau was a member of the freshman eight in 2002-03 and the part of the junior varsity eight in 2003-04 and 2004-05.