Line-ups for the U.S. Para crews that will compete at this year’s Paralympics in Paris, Aug. 30 to Sept. 1, have been named after a January selection camp in Sarasota.
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The PR3 mixed-coxed four and PR3 mixed double are the first U.S. crews—Olympic or Paralympic—named for Paris 2024. Four of the five athletes in the PR3 coxed four return from the crew that won the silver medal at last year’s world championships, joined by Gemma Wollenschlaeger, from last year’s silver-medal PR3 mixed double.
Coxswain Emelie Elderracher and college rowers Ben Washburne, Alex Flynn, and Skylar Dahl return to represent the U.S. in the event in which they won the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Todd Vogt, who won silver with Wollenschlaeger in the PR3 mixed double at last year’s Worlds, will be in the Paris boat with Saige Harper, who was in last year’s PR3 coxed four.
Para rowing features three sport classes, PR1, PR2, and PR3, for athletes with eligible physical or visual impairments. PR1 rowers primarily move the boat with their upper trunk (arms and shoulders) and PR2 rowers use their full trunk in the rowing stroke. PR3 rowers may have either visual or a physical impairment and use standard/typical racing shells with a sliding seat.
“It’s really interesting to have a fully returning squad overall,” said USRowing Director of Para High Performance Ellen Minzner. “There’s a lot of cohesion among this PR3 squad—a lot of unity of purpose—and that’s going to go really far.”
Minzner credited relationships with college coaches for the recent success of U.S. para crews.
“We’ve invested a lot of energy into making sure, as we work with college athletes, that we bring the college coach into the conversation so that they’re well aware of the dual goals of the athlete and feel like they’re part of the conversation about when the athlete will be available for their squad, when the athlete will not be available for their squad. That’s helped us tremendously and also makes the athlete feel like people are looking out for them.
“Kevin Sauer at Virginia has been amazing; George [Munger] over at Tufts, a big supporter of Alex; and Luke [Wilhelm] at Sacred Heart for Saige. Ben just graduated from Williams, but Mark [Mandel] has been great. Ditto Rebecca Grzybowski at Temple with Gemma, and Holly [Metcalf] at MIT.
“The coaches have really gotten behind what we’re doing and understand what we’re doing. Their college setting has gotten [the athletes] this far, and we want to work with that system and make sure we keep the athletes long term.”
Plans call for the crews to train on Boston’s Charles River out of various boathouses, including Community Rowing, Inc., MIT, and Harvard’s Newell Boathouse, where heavyweight assistant coach Tom Siddall supplements his Harvard salary by coaching the U.S. Para team.
The U.S. squad will race at World Rowing Cup III in Poznan, Poland, in June as well as trying to qualify PR1 and PR2 boats at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, May 19 to 21.
The named PR3 crews qualified for Paris by virtue of their silver-medal performances at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, but USRowing has yet to qualify in the three remaining Para events: PR1 men’s single, PR1 women’s single, and PR2 mixed double.
Those three boats will be selected at the 2024 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials–Rowing scheduled for April 2 to 7 in Sarasota. The winners in Sarasota will then race at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta in May in Lucerne to try to earn a spot for Paris.
“This was a very competitive camp, and I congratulate all the athletes,” said Minzner. “I would like to thank the college coaches for supporting our program by helping their student athletes develop a successful path to the Paralympic team.”
