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New Canaan Rower Misses Podium But Makes Olympic History For U.S.

NEW CANAAN, Conn. -- New Canaan’s Andrew Campbell finished fifth Friday with teammate Josh Konieczny in the finals of the Olympic lightweight double sculls rowing competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

New Canaan's Andrew Campbell, left, and Josh Konieczny finished fifth in the lightweight doubles sculls on Friday at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

New Canaan's Andrew Campbell, left, and Josh Konieczny finished fifth in the lightweight doubles sculls on Friday at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Photo Credit: USrowing.org

France won the gold, followed by Ireland and Norway. South Africa finished fourth. The U.S. finished in 6:35.07, about five seconds behind France and a little more than three seconds out of third.

Campbell and Konieczny got off to a solid start, holding third at the 500-meter mark and second at 1,000 meters in the 2,000-meter race. The Americans faded in the second half of the race, however, as the other crews pulled ahead.

While disappointing in not making the podium, Campbell and Konieczny made rowing history by becoming the first U.S. crew to make the finals of the event.

Campbell trained in high school with New Canaan Crew, which is based at Norwalk’s Maritime Rowing Club. He trained under coach Yan Vengerovskiy before going to Harvard.

Campbell, 24, has been part of the U.S. national team since 2011.

Charlie Cole, also of New Canaan, also missed a medal at the Games. Rowing in the Men’s 4, Cole’s crew was eliminated from medal contention on Thursday. The American crew bounced back on Friday with a solid win in the B Final. It was likely the final Olympic race for Cole, 30, who won a bronze with the Men’s Four at the 2012 Summer Games.

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