US’ Bill Bender (L) and US’ Oliver Bub compete in the men’s pair repechages rowing competition at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre in Vaires-sur-Marne during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP) (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Monday was a better day for Westport's Oliver Bub and his teammate, Billy Bender, in the men's pair repechage at the Paris Olympics.
They finished third behind the crews from Switzerland and Italy, but that was enough for them to advance to the semifinals on Wednesday.
Bub and Bender finished the race in 6:51:32, more than 10 seconds better than their time in the heats on Sunday.
“We identified the start as a weakness off of trials and off world cup II,” Bub told US Rowing. “We made some changes and just didn’t execute yesterday, but it’s not always easy to say, ‘let’s go faster.’ Sometimes you go for more and you don’t necessarily hit it right, but I think we were able to execute on it better today, so a little more confidence heading into the semi after that start than the one in the heat.”
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Bub, 26, began rowing in the fall of 2012 at the Saugatuck Rowing Club.
Two other rowers with ties to Connecticut were on the water outside Paris on Monday as well.
Yale grad Nick Rusher is part of the men's eight crew at the 2024 Olympics.
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The U.S. men's eight squad finished first in their heat with the best overall time of 5:29:24 and advanced to the Final A on Saturday.
Team USA's women's eight crew also has a Yale grad on board. Margaret Hedeman was a first-team All-Ivy selection in 2023 while at Yale.
The team finished second in their heat Monday with a time of 6:19:00 and has been relegated to the repechage on Thursday.
