Walking back to the boat bay, carrying the shell she had just rowed to a win at National Selection Regatta 1, two-time Olympian Eleanor Logan looked back at her pair partner, Felice Mueller, and remarked that she is learning from the relative-newcomer to the senior national team.
"You would think she would be learning something from me, but it's the other way around. I'm learning a lot from her,"? Logan said. "There are so many fast boats out there, and it could have gone any number of ways. It was really important to just focus on the two of us today."?
But the A final of the women's pair didn't go a different way. Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) and Mueller (Cleveland, Ohio) lined up against five other crews from the USRowing Training Center -“ Princeton and from the start, pushed out ahead of the field on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
By the time they approached the finish line, they had an open-water lead and won in a time of 7:01.19.
"That was really fun,"? said Mueller, who has two world championship medals to her name. "I was very excited that we were able to have a good race against these amazing women that we get to practice with everyday. We've been together for over a month now, and we're both learning a ton about rowing this boat."?
Finishing second behind them in 7:03.66 was Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.) and London Olympic bronze medalist Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.). Crossing in third was London gold medalist Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) and Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.) in a time of 7:05.36.
Racing at NSR 1 began Wednesday morning in five selection events"”men's and women's pair, men's and women's double sculls and lightweight women's double sculls—aand four speed order events.
For the athletes competing in selection events, this is the first step on the path to a berth on the U.S. team. A win here means the opportunity to race at one of the 2015 World Rowing Cup events and a chance to be nominated to the senior national team that will compete in the 2015 World Rowing Championships August 29-Sept. 6 in Aiguebelette, France.
After three days of racing in high winds and difficult conditions, Saturday morning was calm, and the water was ideal for racing. Following the women's pair was the A final of the men's pair.
USTC - Princeton's Matthew Miller (Fairfax, Va.) and Alex Karwoski (Hollis, N.H.) pushed their bow out from the start and held the lead for the length of the course, winning in a time 6:31.34. Crossing second in 6:33.10 was Vesper Boat Club's London Olympian Tom Peszek (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Yohann Rigogne (Besançon, France). Finishing third in 6:34.07 was USTC - Princeton's Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.).
"It was a good morning. It was a good piece,"? said Karwoski. "Matt was laying down a good rhythm right off the blocks. We had a couple of unsettling strokes, but we got out and the whole plan was to just pull away in the third 500 when we could, and it worked. I'm just following the big man. I'm not doing a whole lot in the bow; I'm just along for the ride."?
Following the pairs events were the A finals of the women's and men's double sculls.
Like they did last year, Beijing Olympian Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Meghan O'Leary (Baton Rouge, La.) took control early and won in 6:59.39. Finishing second in 7:04.91 was USTC - Princeton's Molly Hamrick (Tampa, Fla.) and Keziah Beall (Bainbridge, Wash.). The Vesper entry of Nicole Ritchie (Dummerston, Vt.) and Mary Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) finished third in 7:07.15.
While there was no immediate decision to enter a world cup this summer, for O'Leary and Tomek it is a certainty that they will be headed to Europe with the hope of earning a spot on the national team for the third-straight year.
"It was a good race,"? Tomek said. "We knew that the other crews were going to come with us off the line, so we just tried to stay relaxed and push away, and that's what we did. So it's off to Europe, go to a world cup and try and get the boat qualified. We've got some more work to do, and we'll start on Monday."?
In the men's double sculls A final, Craftsbury Sculling Center's Benjamin Dann (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) and John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) won in a time of 6:29.16. Finishing second in 6:32.85 was the composite entry of Justin Keen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Chris Massey (Mills, Mass.) from Potomac Boat Club and Penn A.C. Rowing Association. Finishing third in 6:33.03 was Craftsbury's London Olympian Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Tom Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio).
"This is kind of a step in the right direction,"? said Dann. Both Dann and Graves represented the U.S. in the men's quad with teammates Peter Graves and Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.). Dann said the Craftsbury group plans to go back to Vermont and start training in the quad again.
"We'll go back and get in the quad and mix it up again. So there will be some fun selection and development over the next couple of weeks for that,"? he said. "But it's good to be here and in the moment."?
The last selection event A final of the day had to be delayed because after starting the race, Vesper's Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.), who is rowing with Devery Karz (Park City, Utah), snapped her oar in half in the first 500 meters. The race was stopped and the crews returned to the boathouse while the oar was replaced.
When the race was restarted at the end of the schedule, Sechser and Karz rowed to a win in the event for the second straight year. They crossed first in 7:07.66. Finishing second in 7:10.79 was California Boat Club's entry of Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) and London Olympian Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.), and finishing third in 7:15.06 was GMS Rowing Center's Victoria Burke (Redding, Conn.) and Sarah Giancola (Buffalo, N.Y.).
"The oar snapped, and that was pretty terrifying,"? said Sechser. "But like everything else we were trying to accomplish at this regatta, we were learning to behave with the professionalism and maturity of an Olympic athlete. And part of that was staying calm and letting the refs do their jobs."?
In addition to the selection events, four speed order A finals were run in the lightweight men's pair, men's and women's single sculls and lightweight men's single sculls.
In the lightweight men's pair, crews from USTC - Oklahomma City finished in the top three positions. Beijing Olympian Will Daly (Vail, Colo.) and Edward King (Ironton, Mo.) crossed first in 6:37.64, followed by Tyler Nase (Phoenixville, Pa.) and London Olympian Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) in 6:38.58. London Olympian Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) and Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) finished third in a time of 6:39.32.
Next up was the A final of the lightweight men's single sculls. Long Beach Rowing Association's Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) won in 7:03.95. Finishing second in 7:08.11 was Malta Boat Club's Colin Ethridge (Laytonsville, Md.), followed in third by Cambridge Boat Club's Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) in 7:10.22.
Winning the women's single sculls A final in 7:56.44 was Vesper's Katherine McFetridge (Thorofare, N.J.). Finishing second in 7:59.45 was GMS Rowing Center's Michaela Copenhaver (New Milford, Conn.), and finishing third in 8:02.37 was USTC - Princeton's Kelly Pierce (Oakton, Va.).
In the final speed order A final, the men's single sculls, Craftsbury scullers finished in the top three. Winning in a time of 7:08.81 was William Cowles (Farmington, Conn.). Finishing second in 7:20.88 was Erik Frid (Madbury, N.H.) and finishing third in 7:23.19 was Andrew Reed (Wayland, Mass.).
For complete results of the A and B finals, click here.
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