RowingRelated

Much of the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team is now on the scene in London, and training on the Olympic course at Eton. Conditions have been a solid introduction to the course, with some wind, chop, clouds and rain–some of which is evident in the above video. Shot during a session on Dorney Lake, the video shows bow seat Tom Peszek's view of the course, and stroke (and RR interviewee) Silas Stafford , as the duo rows from the finish up to the start line, with a few drills along the way, and a brief glimpse of the U.S. women's eight in the starting queue. Racing is now just over a week away, with the heats for the women's pair, women's quad, men's eight, men's double, men's lightweight four, men's quad, men's pair, and men's and women's single (in that order) set for Saturday, July 28th, 2012. For a complete schedule, please follow this link to NBCOlympics.com , and check out more videos from Tom Peszek on his YouTube Channel . Looking forward ...

Today marked the finals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Rowing Trials, and saw two new combinations in the men's and women's pairs take center stage, earning their places in London in style. On the women's side, Sarah Zelenka and Sara Hendershot had an outstanding second 1000m, coming back from nearly two lengths down to defeat teammates and rivals Amanda Polk and Jamie Redman, as Zelenka and Hendershot explain in the video above. The men's race was perhaps less dramatic, but no less impressive, with the new-look duo of 2010 U.S. senior national teamer (and RR interviewee ) Silas Stafford and half of last year's U.S. men's pair in Bled, Tom Peszek , taking an early lead and building on it in the second half, finishing roughly two lengths ahead of double Pan American Games champions Ty Otto and Mike Gennaro (click here for a video interview with Otto and Gennaro following Pan Ams). The men's single was a fairly one-sided contest, with Beijing Olympian and...

This week's video is from Captured Speed Productions, and features a fantastic dual from Redwood Shores, with several current US National Team members going head to head on the narrow course. The race is quite close, and the rowing is of a very high quality. Both crews battle with the intensity one expects from such a rivalry as Cal v. Stanford, and the result is an excellent example of varsity-level collegiate racing. In the Stanford boat are Mark Murphy (7 seat), who rowed in the US Men's VIII in Karapiro, Silas Stafford (6 seat), stroke of the US Men's 4- in Karapiro and RR interviewee , and Alex Osborne (4 seat), who raced in the Men's VIII at Worlds in 2009. In the Cal boat, Nareg Guregian (5 seat) most recently raced in the Men's 2+ in Karapiro, and was in the 2009 U23 Men's VIII, in addition to being named the 2010 Pac-10 Rowing Athlete of the Year. Guregian also stroked the Cal Men's VIII to an IRA Championship last June, coming from behind to de...

Stafford & Co. in NZ (Photo Courtesy of S. N. Stafford) Silas Newby Stafford has quite a track record already in his young career. After getting started in the sport as a college freshman, Stafford's talent was immediately evident, and he put an exclamation point on his excellent college career in 2007, stroking the Stanford Varsity VIII to its highest ever finish at the IRA (tying Harvard for second place in an incredible photo finish ). He then went on to win the U23 World Championship in the VIII in 2008, before moving on to Cambridge in the Fall. While rowing at Cambridge, Stafford once again found himself in the stroke seat, and was referred to at the time by the British Press as "The Boy with the Golden Ticket." His crew emerged victorious (despite a clash that greatly effected his crew) during the Trial VIIIs racing that took place during the Autumn of 2008, and he stroked the CUBC Blue Boat for the 2009 Boat Race. Though they were eventually defeated by ...