For just a few minutes Saturday afternoon, there was an optimistic feel on the venue at Nathan Benderson Park that all the second day races of the Youth National Championships would be completed.
A thunderstorm blew in, chased crews off the water, and caused a delay. But the front was supposed to be gone in time to resume the schedule with enough room to get everything in.
The racing did resume. But, wherever that weather front was supposed to go, it didn't. Four races later, the day ended.
But that's weather in the tropics and the important information here is that racing will start Sunday morning a half hour earlier (7:30), run on tighter intervals, and the most important finals will go first - just in case.
First, here is the new schedule. Next, the Saturday race recap:
A Lot or a Little - It All Means a Title Opportunity
From her place in the bow of the New Canaan women's youth quad, Siobhan Naughton could see that her crew was not where they wanted to be early in the semifinal of their event. Running in the back of the pack the length of the course would mean a B final appearance.
But as the halfway point in the race approached, the New Canaan crew dug in. "We really tried to push at the thousand," she said, "then we brought it up at the 500. The last 250, I don't even remember."
What she can't remember was a sprint to a photo finish that, when it was all sorted out, showed the New Canaan bow nipping the bow of the crew from the Saratoga Rowing Association for third place and the final qualifying spot for the Sunday A final - and a chance at a national championship.
"That was amazing," Naughton said. "That was the hardest race of my life. We didn't know where we were when we crossed. But that was almost better. I'm just really excited for the final, and really excited to do it for our club and for our school; hopefully we'll do well."
The women's youth quad event was the second photo finish of the morning. The first came in the second race of the day, the second semifinal of the women's youth single between Newport Sea Base Rowing's Kendall Fearnley and Greater Dayton's Megan Hinkle.
These two Saturday races were part of a mixed bag of advance looks at which races were shaping up to be the among the hottest events of Sunday's 18 championship finals, and which were going to be predictable, or at least predictable as far as which crews have the best chance of winning - like in the women's pair event.
Rowing in the first semifinal of that event, Connecticut Boat Club's Kaitlyn Kynast and Julia Cornacchia showed the kind of speed that marked them as the clear favorite. Kynast and Cornacchia were clear of the field right off the start and in a the kind of position by the first 500 meters that the race became a contest between themselves and the boat speed goals they had set before the race.
"I think the worry for us is more in our start," said Kynast. "We've been trying to perfect that because then we can see and control the field. If we do that, our worrying can come down. Our goal this weekend was to hit the fastest time we've rowed, and to hit our fastest split," she said.
"So, it was still a constant push. I had the stroke coach and I kept leaning back to Julia telling her we need to push the splits, we need to push the splits. That's what we were worried about. We wanted to hit our splits."
Friday's semifinals saw some dominating efforts as well as some tight races, some of it really tight, especially in the women's and men's youth eights. In the second men's semi, Oakland Strokes and Sarasota Crew went back and forth the entire race.
At the finish the two crews were separated by a hair - 5:58.18 to 6:00.98 and in the semi before them, Newport posted the fastest time, 5:53.80.
The women's youth eight was also tight. Marin Rowing Association beat Cincinnati Juniors 6:37.32 to 6:38.69. Marin's time was the fastest of the two semis.
What it all adds up to is the likelihood of a morning of solid Sunday A final racing.
All Finals Matter to the Crews Racing at Youth Nationals
The Youth National Championships is not an event a crew can just sign up to race; acceptance to the regatta has to be earned and the crews that qualify are considered among the best youth crews in the U.S. So when a crew doesn't advance into a top final, the lower finals can still really mean something.
And a win can make up for the disappointment of having the regatta end a day early. That was the way it was for the youth men's pair from Princeton National Rowing Association's Mercer Juniors Saturday.
After finishing one spot out of semifinal qualification in the Friday time trial, Andrew Moss and Dana Gajewski rowed to the start line Saturday morning with just one thought - win.
"We started rowing the pair a month before Mid-Atlantic Regionals, and we thought we had some speed," said Moss. "We won Mid-Atlantics, came here, and were a little disappointed in our time trial. We didn’t have any goals this morning. We just said, we have to win this."
From the start it was clear that the C final was not going to be easy. Mercer fell back as the boats in front of them were gunning through the first 500-meters.
"We came off the start and everyone was in front of us," Moss said. "At a thousand meters, we started seeing people dying off and every time I saw someone dying off, I called a power ten and we gained open water on everyone. And then it was lights out. We put so much work into it this year, there was no other goal," he said.
"That was a great race. We really put the work in this year," Gajewski said. "That was an incredible experience."
Taking Pride in a Result of a Different Kind
Bulgaria's Svetla Otzetova is renowned for her accomplishments in international rowing. She won an Olympic gold medal in the women's double at the Montreal Games, served on the International Olympic Committee, and has designed some of the best races courses in the world.
She designed a course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria that is an example of what a man-made course can be. And, she has designed or participated in the designs of Olympic race courses in Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and Eton-Dorney in Great Britain.
So when developer Nathan Benderson had a vision to turn a gravel pit in Sarasota, FL, into a destination for rowing in the United States, and a venue capable of hosting a World Rowing Championships, he called on Otzetova to do the design. , This weekend, Otzetova was part of the FISA group inspecting the venue in advance of the World Rowing Championship that will take place here this September. Youth Nationals has effectively served as the test event and while the venue is still not completed, Otzetova is pleased with the results so far.
"It is impressive," she said. "I was just telling my colleagues that on my first visit here (2009) it was all dirt. And what came out of all the efforts of all the people involved has been impressive, and the biggest compliment is what the crews and the coaches are saying. They appreciate the conditions very much here and it looks very good."
Otzetova said the FISA group was here to see what was left to complete and what needed to be adjusted. "We're just looking at all the little details - how to fix the cameras, how to fix the wires, and to make sure that everything is fine and working," she said.
"The adjustments are very normal and it's working very well." Of the courses she has designed, she said, "I think this is one of the best, maybe even the best. What we are missing here still is more permanent facilities, for the daily use of the venue, like a permanent boathouse.
"That is very important for the people coming to the venue for training on a daily basis and to have other functions, and not just rowing. So, we are discussing and passing a lot of good examples along."
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