The first 2003 National Selection Regatta (NSR) will be held April 25-27 on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J. The national selection regattas are one step towards making the 2003 World Championships Team, which will compete at the 2003 FISA World Rowing Championships Aug. 24-31 in Milan, Italy.
NSR I will include races in seven boat classes -- the men and women's single sculls, men and women's lightweight single sculls, men and women's pair, and men's lightweight pair.
The lightweight men's single sculls event leads the way in terms of total entries with 56 rowers scheduled to compete. Steve Tucker (Mooresville, Ind.), a 2000 Olympian and bronze medalist in the event at the 2002 World Championships in Seville, Spain, tops the entry list. In addition to Tucker, 12 members of last year's national team squad will compete in the event, while another nine former national team members are also scheduled to race. This list includes 2000 Olympians Conal Groom (Northford, Conn.) and Greg Ruckman (Cincinnati, Ohio), who is making his return to competitive rowing after taking two years off following the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
The men's single sculls category has 52 entries including 11 members of the 2002 U.S. squad. Aquil Abdullah (Washington, D.C.) represented the United States in the single at the 2002 World Championships and is hoping NSR I will be the first stepping stone towards repeating that feat this year. In addition to Abdullah, Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), who raced in the men's quadruple sculls at the 2002 World Championships, should be a top contender as he finished second in the event at last year's NSR I. Allen's three boatmates from Seville - Ben Holbrook (Hartland, Wis.), J. Sloan DuRoss (Old Orchard Beach, Maine), and Michael Callahan (Arlington, Va.) are also scheduled to compete.
Thirty-eight women will race in the lightweight women's single sculls. Competitors include all seven women who represented the U.S. in lightweight events at the 2002 World Championships. Lisa Schlenker (Lake Oswego, Ore.) is the defending world championships' silver medalist in the lightweight single sculls, while Stacey Borgman (Homer, Alaska) and Mary Obidinski (Oneonta, N.Y.) finished seventh in the lightweight women's double sculls in Seville. In addition to the 2002 National Team members, two other past national team members and world championships' medalists are scheduled to compete.
In the women's single sculls, 33 rowers are scheduled to race including nine 2002 National Team members. The field includes all four members of the 2001 World Championships' bronze-medal quadruple sculls crew -- Laura Rauchfuss (Riverside, Conn.), Carol Skricki (Norwood, Mass.), Sarah Jones (Stanwood, Wash.), and Hilary Gehman (Wolfeboro, NH.) -- and six past Olympians including Skricki, Jones, Gehman, Kelly Salchow (Cincinnati, Ohio), Jen Dore-Terhaar (Kearny, N.J.) and Laurel Korholz (La Jolla, Calif.). Last year, Kristin Goodrich (Portola Valley, Calif.) won NSR I and eventually went on to represent the U.S. in the event at the world championships.
Fifteen crews will compete in the men's pair. The field includes 15 of last year's national team members including seven rowers from the bronze medal-winning men's eight. The entry list also includes six additional former national team members and four past Olympians including Wolf Moser (Moultonboro, N.H.), Bryan Volpenhein (Cincinnati, Ohio), Mike Wherley (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and Jeff Klepacki (Kearny, N.J.), a three-time Olympian who is returning to competition after taking two years off.
In the women's pair, 13 crews are scheduled to race. The field has 12 2002 National Team members including Kate MacKenzie (Novi, Mich.), Maite Urtasun (Riverside, N.J.), Ali Cox (Turlock, Calif.), Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.), Dana Peirce (Richmond, Va.), and Kate Johnson (Portland, Ore.), who all were members of last year's world champion women's eight. In addition, three former national team members, including past Olympians Amy Fuller (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Lianne Nelson (Seattle, Wash.) who are both returning to competition after taking two years off following the 2000 Games, will compete.
In the lightweight men's pair, eight crews are scheduled to race with half of the field having competed at the 2002 World Championships. Paul Teti (Upper Darby, Pa.), Patrick Todd (Cincinnati, Ohio), Steve Warner (Livonia, Mich.) and Gabe Winkler (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) made up the lightweight men's four at last year's world championships, while Matt Smith (Woodbridge, Va.) and Erik Miller (Renton, Wash.) were members of the bronze medal-winning lightweight men's eight and Michael Altman (Marin County, Calif.) and Simon Carcagno (Pennington, N.J.) made up the lightweight men's pair.
The selection procedures for making the 2003 National Team in each boat-class depends on whether or not that boat category is an Olympic-class event or a non-Olympic event. Winners in the men and women's single sculls at NSR I will be given the opportunity to race at the Rowing World Cup event in Munich, Germany, in June. If the boat places in the top six in Munich, the boat will represent the United States at the world championships. If the boat does not place in the top six or does not compete in Munich, the event will be contested at the 2003 National Team Trials for Olympic-class Boats from July 10-15 in Princeton, N.J.
At NSR II, participants in the men and women's pair, the men and women's double sculls and the men and women's lightweight double sculls will get the same opportunity as the single scullers to make the national team at the world cup event in Munich.