PHOTOS AND STORY BY ED MORAN

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. —With the first three days of National Selection Regatta II completed and finals set for tomorrow morning on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., the process of bringing together the 2022 Senior National Team will soon be moving to the second phase of the new USRowing selection process.

When finals are done in the morning, the winning crews will choose whether they want to race at World Cup II for a secure placement on the 2022 National Team that will race this September at the World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, or join one of two selection camps that will convene next week in Sacramento, California, and Mercer, New Jersey.

But before any of that happens, there will have to be winners in the Friday morning finals.

After, three days of racing who will have the opportunity to make those decisions was sorted out in the four events that saw semifinals Thursday morning. Racing was contested between 12 crews in two heats each of the men’s and women’s pairs and the men’s and women’s double.

In the women’s pair, all six of the crews now training at the U.S. Princeton training center have earned places in the final. In the first heat, Claire Collins and Madeleine Wanamaker won in 7:15.58. Following in the second heat in first place were Charlotte Buck and Jessica Thoennes in 7:20.23.

In the men’s pair, the first heat was won by California Rowing Club’s Andrew LeRoux and Michael Knippen in 6:42.05. The second heat was also won by a CRC crew with Tokyo Olympians Justin Best and Michael Grady crossing in 6:43.52.

“I think we worked on some stuff today, and we felt much more confident coming off the water having done that,” said Best. 

“Grady and I had a few technical points that we wanted to refine, and we had two practices yesterday, and with the really good conditions, we took advantage of that, and we honed them in so that we could execute in the race and it was just as simple as staying horizontal through the stroke, if that makes sense.

“But, we’re excited to get into the final. All the other CRC guys qualified for the final so it’s really exciting to see that and hopefully, we can put some fast boats out there in the final.”

In the women’s double, the unaffiliated and Whitemarsh Boat Club composite crew of Sophia Luwis and Audrianna Boersen won their heat in 7:06.13. They were followed in first in the second heat by Texas Rowing Center’s Kara Kohler and Sophia Vitas, who finished in 7:05.25.

Kohler, who won NSR I in the single, and represented the U.S. in the event at the Tokyo Games, will have two clear chances to compete for a place on the 2022 national team if her boat can win. 

“This is Sophia and my first-time racing in a double together, doing side by side. We’ve put in a lot of training the past month in Austin with our training partners, the heavy men, and the lightweight men,” Kohler said.

“Getting out there managing the nerves, being side-by-side, is all something we’re learning right now and learning how to stay relaxed and get into a rhythm, and we’re making little steps over the past couple of races, so we are looking forward to tomorrow.”

“Getting out there managing the nerves, being side-by-side, is all something we’re learning right now and learning how to stay relaxed and get into a rhythm, and we’re making little steps over the past couple of races, so we are looking forward to tomorrow.”

-Kara Kohler

Speaking of Kohler’s Texas training partners, both advanced to the morning. The heavy double of Kevin Cardno and Jonathan Kirkegaard won their heat in 6:31.87 and were followed in second by light men Zach Heese and Jasper Liu.

The first heat was won by California rowing club’s double of Andrew Gaard and Sorin Koszyk in 6:24.59.

In the final event of the day, the women’s double C final, the OKC High Performance Center composite entry of Brooke Ruszkiewicz and Ruthie Lacy defeated Riverside’s X entry of Chloe Lewis and Keara Twist.

For a complete list of results click here.

* Coverage brought to you by Gemini.

STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO BY ED MORAN

The third day of the 2022 USRowing National Selection Regatta II is underway.

Thursday’s racing includes semifinals in the men’s and women’s pairs, men’s and women’s doubles, and the C Final in the women’s double.

A list of full results can be viewed here.

* Coverage brought to you by Gemini

PROVIDED BY THE CRCA

DIVISION I

Other Schools Receiving Points: University of Louisville (10), Clemson University (8), University of Wisconsin (7), Harvard University (6), U.S. Naval Academy (5), University of California, Los Angeles (4), University of Central Florida (4), University of Minnesota (3), Michigan State University (1), Cornell University (1), Boston University (1), University of Alabama (1), Columbia University (1), Gonzaga University (1), University of Iowa (1).

DIVISION II

Other Schools Receiving Points: Florida Institue of Technology (6), Franklin Pierce University (5).

DIVISION III

Other Schools Receiving Points: Colby College (12), Skidmore College (9), Rochester Institute of Technology (3).

PROVIDED BY THE IRA

STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO BY ED MORAN

USRowing announced today that financial technology company Broadridge Partners will support the women’s national team through an elite athlete management program.

The program will provide five positions with the company to five U.S. Women’s National Rowing Team hopefuls.

“We are thrilled to announce this exciting partnership with Broadridge and this innovative management training program,” said USRowing CEO Amanda Kraus. “This partnership provides our women’s national team athletes with a strong opportunity to succeed in the boat while building their careers with a world class company.” 

Chief High Performance Officer Josy Verdonkschot said that the innovative model can be applied to other companies as well.

“Our vision is that this innovative and creative program will serve as a model for other companies who want to support our Olympic and Paralympic teams and athletes,” said Verdonkschot.

The agreement is set to last three years with Broadridge also acting as a Presenting Sponsor of the USRowing Youth National Championships and USRowing Golden Oars Gala for 2022, 2023, and 2024.

STAFF REPORTS
PHOTO BY ED MORAN

The second day of rowing at the 2022 USRowing National Regatta II includes the women’s repechages.

The top three finishers from each event will advance to Thursday’s semifinals.

For a full list of results click here.

* Coverage brought to you by Gemini.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ED MORAN

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — Just before the start of the men’s heavy double time trial Tuesday morning at National Selection Regatta II on Mercer Lake, Jasper Liu and Zack Heese were munching on breakfast sandwiches — peanut butter and jelly for Liu, straight peanut butter for Heese.

They were the only two athletes on the first day of NSR II eating with 30 minutes to go before launching their boat. But they were also the only two of the 14 men’s heavy doubles to have had to make weight.

The thing was, Liu and Heese were also rowing in the lightweight men’s double, and the event — as well as the women’s lightweight double — was uncontested. They wanted to make sure they could race all week and test themselves in side-by-side racing as the event moved on toward Friday’s finals.

“Just made weight, and now it’s time to fuel up,” Liu said just before getting up and walking back to the boatyard to grab their boat.

The quick fill-up apparently worked the way it was supposed to because Liu and Heese finished fourth overall in the open double and then paddled back to the start to row the course again in the lightweight men’s double final.

“It was a quick turnaround between our weigh-in and the heavyweight time trial, but we decided to still put a solid piece down and see our base pace. Then we just had to turn around and paddle back up and treat it like two-by-2k for the second piece,” Liu said.

“It was fine; we got the job done, just had to make it down the course,” he said. “Didn’t flip. Didn’t get disqualified.”

It was an odd situation, for sure. 

Olympic boat class selection events do not go normally go uncontested. But this is a post-Olympic year and a year where the USRowing selection system has been completely reconstructed, and both the men’s and women’s light finals were one boat shows.

It did not make for blazing fast times. Liu and Heese finished in 7:14.73, just 84 percent of the 6:05.00 gold standard for the event. Tokyo Olympians Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford rowed a 7:53.11, also 84 percent of the women’s gold standard time of 6:41.00.

But while it was not the kind of speed they wanted or would need in international competition, it did earn them the opportunity to represent the U.S. at World Cup I in Poznan, Poland, and row for a top-six finish and a place on the 2022 Senior World Championship Team that will race at the World Rowing Championships September 18-25 in Racice, Czech Republic.

For crews racing in the four other events in this regatta, the men’s and women’s doubles and the men’s women’s pairs, Tuesday was just the beginning of their quest to earn a chance to race internationally for a place on the 2022 national team and for an opportunity to be invited to the big boat selection camps later in the year.

“Being back racing is always exciting,” Reckford said. “But time trials like this are a new experience for us. We’ve always had this pressure of it being do or die, do or die, and coming out today was a new challenge to try to find that fire and to really race hard in conditions where there is nobody next to you pushing you.

“But we’re going to keep working and keep finding speed, and now we get to really focus on World Cup in Poland,” she said.

“I’ve never done this before, and I much prefer racing other people. In my first doubles race, there were eight of us, and it was really exciting,” she said. “So, this was certainly a new and very different challenge, and I look forward to getting side by side again.”

Liu and Heese will continue racing toward the Friday finals in the open men’s double.

Racing will continue Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. and include the women’s double repechages.

For a full list of entries and results, click here.

* Coverage is brought to you by Gemini.