By Allison Frederick
Contact: Allison Frederick, [email protected], 609-751-0710
PRINCETON, N.J. – And the cycle begins again.
After eight months of calm that follows an Olympic cycle, like the one that just concluded in London, the first senior team selection regatta will get underway this week on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
More than 100 athletes from 22 clubs across the country are registered to participate in two selection events – the men’s and women’s single sculls, and four speed order events – the lightweight men’s and women’s single sculls, men’s double sculls and men’s pair.
The winners of the two selection events will earn the right to compete at one or both of the scheduled World Rowing Cup events and, if he or she finishes in the top four or top half of the field, earn a berth on the team that will compete at the World Rowing Championships August 25-September 1 in Chungju, South Korea.
Not only is this the first selection regatta in the four-year cycle that will eventually lead to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, it is the first under the guidance of USRowing Director of High Performance Curtis Jordan, who was hired following the 2012 Olympic Games to maximize the United States’ medal haul in Rio.
USRowing won three medals in London – gold in the women’s eight, bronze in the women’s quadruple sculls and bronze in the men’s four. Two U.S. crews, the men’s eight and the women’s pair, finished within fractions of a second from reaching the podium.
Under Jordan, USRowing will limit the number of Olympic class boats it will support for the world championships to focus efforts and resources in certain events and the organization has invited clubs throughout the country to send boats to the remaining selection events.
Jordan’s new plan calls for only eight of the 14 Olympic boats classes to be supported by USRowing, including the women’s double sculls, lightweight double sculls, pair, quad and eight. For the men, the four, lightweight four and eight will be funded. All other boat classes will have the ability to have funding reimbursed based on performance at worlds.
The priority events at 2013 NSR #1 this weekend have the largest number of entries, with 29 men and 20 women entered in the single.
Jordan, who has been involved in the national team selection process before, said the numbers of athletes entered, and events featured, are normal for the beginning of a new Olympic cycle.
“This is the beginning of a cycle,” he said. “If you were to go back and look at 2009 or 2007 or 2005, you wouldn’t see very many pairs at all in the first NSR. That’s how many people are out there training in sweep boats right now.”
As happens at the end of every Olympic cycle, athletes retire, athletes take time off from training and new faces come to the line. As the cycle extends into the second year, the pool of aspirants begins to grow again.
“Two things will happen,” Jordan said. “People that are taking a year off will be coming back, and people that are graduating university will move into the club or training center environment.”
As for the large numbers of singles entered, Jordan said, “I’m seeing exactly what I thought I would see, and I’m really pleased. There are a number of men’s and women’s single scullers that are serious about being in the sculling ranks.”
This year is no different than prior years that have begun a new cycle, he said. But that doesn’t mean there are not experienced, veteran athletes coming to Mercer Lake.
Among the entries in the men’s single event are USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City’s Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.), who both won bronze medals in the men’s four in London last summer.
Also racing in the men’s single is Bantam Boat Club’s Tom Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio), who competed in the men’s double at the 2011 World Championships, and his brother John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio), who rowed the lightweight men’s single in the 2009 and 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships and is racing for Craftsbury Sculling Center.
In addition to the Graves brothers, the men’s single will see USRowing TC – OKC’s Blaise Didier (San Francisco, Calif.), who finished sixth in the men’s pair with coxswain at the 2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships and Potomac Boat Club’s Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.), who finished fourth in the double at the 2012 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta.
Of the 20 women entered in the women’s single, three 2012 Olympians will compete including Potomac Boat Club’s Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calif.) and USRowing TC – Princeton’s Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), who won gold in the women’s eight; and USRowing TC – Princeton’s Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), who won bronze in the women’s quad.
Also rowing the event will be California Rowing Club’s Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.), bronze medalist in the quad at the 2011 World Rowing Championships and USRowing TC – Princeton’s Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.), a Beijing Olympian who finished fifth in the double sculls.
Eight men’s pairs are entered including USRowing Training Center’s Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), who won bronze in the men’s four at the 2012 Olympic Games; Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.), David Banks (Potomac, MD.), Ross James and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.) – all members of the London men’s eight.
Also rowing in the event is USRowing TC – Oklahoma City’s Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) who finished eighth in the men’s eight at the 2011 World Rowing Championships, USRowing TC – Oklahoma City’s Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.), who finished eighth in the men’s pair in London, and 2012 Olympic alternate from USRowing TC – Oklahoma City Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.), who won gold in the 2011 under 23 men’s eight and gold in the men’s eight and pair at the 2011 Pan American Games.
There are 19 women entered in the lightweight women’s single sculls event. Three of the entries are currently training at the USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City including Nicole Dinion (Falls Church, Va.), who won bronze in the lightweight women’s quad at the 2011 World Rowing Championships, Chelsea Smith (Edina, Minn.), who finished fourth at the 2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships and Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.), who finished ninth in the women’s double at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.
Also rowing in the event is 2012 Olympian Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) of California Rowing Club, who finished 11th in the women’s lightweight double in London and won the lightweight women’s single event at the 2012 Head of the Charles Regatta, and Riverside Boat Club’s Hillary Saeger (Dedham, Mass.), who won bronze in 2011 with Dinion.
Competing among the 20 lightweight men’s single scullers is Riverside Boat Club’s Andrew Hashway (West Boylston, Mass.), who finished ninth in the lightweight men’s eight at the 2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships. Joining the field is London Paralympian Dorian Weber (Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom) of Community Rowing, Inc., who finished sixth in the legs, trunk and arms four with coxswain.
Rowing in the men’s double sculls event is the lone Malta Boat Club entry of Dave Smith (Seattle, Wash.) and Sam Cunningham (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Smith, who is also scheduled to race in the lightweight single sculls, and Cunningham finished eighth in the lightweight men’s quad at the 2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships.
Racing begins Thursday morning with time trials and continues with heats on Thursday evening. Semifinals will take place Friday morning, with A and B finals scheduled for Saturday morning. For more information including tentative race schedule and directions to Mercer Lake in West Windsor, visit www.usrowing.org. For a complete list of entries, visit https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/entries/index.jsp?job_id=2980.
USRowing is excited to provide live streaming footage of the A and B finals on Saturday, April 27, beginning at 7 a.m. ET. Watch racing on USRowing’s You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/usrowingorg.
For past national team selection event results, visit http://www.usrowing.org/Pressbox/HistoricalResults/NationalResults/NationalTeamSelectionResults.aspx. To view a photo gallery of last year’s NSR #1, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/usrowing/sets/72157629593801163/.
About USRowing
USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing’s official suppliers include Vespoli, WinTech, Filippi, Croker Oars, Rudy Project, Concept2, Nielsen Kellerman, and Ludus Tours. USRowing also receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners ANXeBusiness Corp, EMCVenues, Connect-A-Dock, JanSport, Rudy Project and Boathouse Sports. For more information, visit www.usrowing.org. The USRowing National Team program relies on strong partnerships to enable continued success. New opportunities exist to support the teams through the next quadrennial, culminating with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. America Rows, which supports diversity in rowing and the USRowing adaptive programs also benefit from corporate support. Free basic membership and championship level membership to USRowing is available and encouraged. For more information, please contact Beth Kohl at [email protected].
