Schwen, Kraft of U.S. Advance in Pairs

Missy Schwen and Karen Kraft, silver medalists in last year’s world championships, won their preliminary heat by more than a boat length with a time of 7 minutes 34.29 to reach Thursday’s semifinals in the women’s pair.

“The semifinal was what we wanted,” said Kraft, of Newport, Wash. “We wanted to race hard and come off the water knowing where we can make improvements and have three days to recover.”

The Americans started slowly on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., and trailed Canada’s Emma Robinson and Anna van der Kamp through the first 1,000 meters of the 2,000-meter race. But Kraft and Schwen picked up their stroke and took the lead for good over the next 500 meters and won by 4.69 seconds.

Michelle Knox Zaloom of Washington, D.C., and Jennifer Devine of Philadelphia also reached the semifinals.

Steven Redgrave of Britain easily advanced to the semifinals in the men’s pair with partner Matthew Pinsent.