USRowing Releases Roster for 2012 Senior and Junior Worlds

USRowing released the official roster for 2012 Senior and Junior Worlds this morning, and on the list are a number of very familiar faces. The senior team includes last year's fourth place finisher in the lightweight men's single, Andrew Campbell, who will be gunning for the podium in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, as will Beijing Olympian Will Daly (racing in the men's pair along with Notre Dame grad, two-time C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints champ, and RR interviewee Greg Flood), following the duo's near miss in the LM2x at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Flood, who made the final eight competing for selection in the LM4- this year, will be appearing at his first senior worlds–likely with many more to come.

The men's pair with coxswain includes Justin Stangel, who took ninth overall in the men's pair last year at worlds along with former partner Tom Peszek (now slotted to race in London with Silas Stafford as the USA M2-), and former junior national champion with Pacific Rowing Club, UW Husky, and 2008 U23 world champ in the USA BM8+, Blaise Didier. Coxswain Stephen Young makes his second appearance at senior worlds, having competed in the M2+ and LM8+ in 2010.

Lightweight women's indoor world record holder Ursula Grobler will be looking to better her fourth place finish in Bled in the LW1x, and Hillary Saeger and Lindsay Hochman will looking to crack the podium once again (following last year's bronze medal performance in the lightweight women's quad at worlds), this time with 2011 Pan Am double bronze medalists Michelle Sechser and Chelsea Smith in the LW4x.

As for the junior team, many of the lineups have yet to be announced, as selection is ongoing. However, we do know that 2012 double USRowing youth national champion Rosie Grinalds of GMS will be competing in the JW4x, along with Elizabeth Sharis (at just 15 years of age), third place Cicely Madden and Alexandra Zadravec–first through fourth place in the JW1x in Oak Ridge this year. Coaching this crew will be the very competent and talented Günter Beutter. Last year's RoRy winner for Female Athlete of the Year at the junior level, Mia Croonquist, has also been named to the roster, but has not been named to a crew at this point, as has 2012 C.R.A.S.H.-B. silver medalist Ruth Narode.

On the junior men's side, Narrangansett's runaway national champions Chase Buchholz and Breck Wagner will represent the U.S. in the JM2x, and two-time national champion Peter Woolley of Marin Rowing Association will join teammates Riley Overfield (coxswain) and Julian Goldman in the sweep events at worlds this year, with MRA men's head coach Graham Willoughby looking after the JM8+. Los Gatos RC's John Chuter (2012 youth national champ in the pair, bronze in the four with coxswain) will be racing in the men's pair along with Aaron McAvey of Don Bosco Prep, while John's brother, Ben (bronze in the JM4+ with John at youth nationals this year) has also been named to the sweep team.

For a look at the complete roster, please visit RowingNews.com.

-RR

Popular posts from this blog

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

RR Interview: Nick Trojan's New Feature on Yale Men's Rowing

Image
Nick Trojan's latest feature documentary is twice as long as his previous work—but leaves you wanting more, just the same.  There’s a new feature in Nick Trojan’s series, taking an inside look at top-tier college rowing programs in the US. This time, Trojan focused his project on Yale and the legendary coach Steve Gladstone, blending outstanding camerawork with one of rowing’s most compelling stories.  Having uploaded the video to YouTube only two weeks ago, it’s already approaching 70k views. And for good reason.  RR sat down recently to talk through it all with Trojan in an exclusive interview, from origins to development and finally a finished product—as well as what might come next. Here’s what we learned. Navigating shifting waters Elite rower turned filmmaker Nick Trojan’s new feature, titled simply, “Yale Men’s Rowing,” was years in the making.  “The initial idea was to do the same kind of rinse-and-repeat that we had done with Harvard and Cal,” Trojan says, “but I think wha
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland. As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just over
Read more

Best Rowing Drills: 5 Favorites of Olympic Champion Esther Lofgren

Image
Lofgren training in the single (Photo courtesy of Esther Lofgren) Olympic gold medalist Esther Lofgren is no stranger to success on the water. In addition to her podium-topping performance with the U.S. women's eight in London, Lofgren also won two world titles (2010, 2011), with her first international medal—a bronze—coming in the women's straight four in 2006. Here, Lofgren shares some insight into the drills that have helped her progress technically along the way.
Read more