USRowing Senior National Team Announced: A Look at the 2014 Squad Set for Action in Amsterdam



The U.S. senior national team has been announced, and its a formidable group that will be heading to Amsterdam later this month for the 2014 World Rowing Championships. And, thanks to USRowing and Curtis Jordan, we've got a inside look at this year's squad. While there are several new-look crews set to enter the fray on the Bosbaan, there are also a number of well-established names on the roster, including three very notable returners—on the women's side, Eleanor Logan is back in the women's eight (where she has won two-straight Olympic gold medals) after a season in the single (and a very successful one at that, making the final at the world championships in her first go around in the boat class), and 2012 Olympian Gevvie Stone will represent the U.S. again in the W1x; on the men's side, two-time Olympian David Banks is back in the mix, sitting in the two seat of the eight.

Here are a few more looks at the U.S. men's eight:






And the U.S. women's eight:


Also of interest—a couple clips from training and pieces featuring the M8+, the M4-, and the M4x:




In the smaller boats, the men's quad includes brothers Pete (2012 Olympian) and John Graves, along with Green Racing Project teammates Ben Dann and Stephen Whelpley. The women's quad is a new crew that will feature two athletes in their first year on the senior team (Tracy Eisser and Grace Latz), and two athletes with senior-level experience but who have never raced internationally in a sculling boat (Felice Meuller and Olivia Coffey).

The men's and women's fours look like podium favorites, with the men's crew all returning from last year's bronze medal campaign (though this version has UC Davis alum Seth Weil at stroke, with Mike Gennaro in the two seat), and the women's lineup featuring a great mix of youth (Tessa Gobo—who won this event last year—and Emily Regan) and experience (Olympians Susan Francia and Adrienne Martelli).

The U.S. lightweight men's four training in OKC:


Other crews that caught our eye are the men's and women's lightweight singles (Andrew Campbell is fresh off a victory at the U23 world championships, Kate Bertko is arguably the best athlete in the field), the men's lightweight four (three of four returning from last year's fifth-place crew), the women's double (Tomek and O'Leary seem to be gelling together and have tremendous upside as a crew), and the men's pair (made up of two of the top athletes in the sweep squad, 2012 bronze medalists from the M4- Charlie Cole and Glenn Ochal). Finally, 2012 Paralympian Andrew Johnson will be testing the waters in a sculling boat at the international level for the first time after six seasons in the LTAMix4+. This year, Johnson will be racing in the LTAMix2x with Stephanie Cox.

The complete roster is available on the official website of USRowing. The 2014 world championships are now less than three weeks away! In the meantime, here's a link to event information, scheduling, and updates via World Rowing.

-RR

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