Flat water and fifty-degree temperatures greeted competitors on the final day of racing Saturday at the 2013 National Selection Regatta #1 on Mercer Lake.
The regatta is the first stage of the selection process for the men’s and women’s single sculls. Saturday’s final winners – John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the men’s single and Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) in the women’s single – earned the right to compete at a 2013 World Rowing Cup event this spring. A top four finish there could mean a berth on the team that will compete at the World Rowing Championships August 25-September 1 in Chungju, South Korea.
The final of the men’s single came down to the final strokes, as Craftsbury Sculling Center scullers Graves and Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.), powered through the last 100 meters. Graves pulled ahead to win by 1.3 seconds in a 7:05.67.
“Honestly, I just wanted to race as hard as I could,” said Graves. “I didn’t really come in with any expectations. I think it felt like, the more I could enjoy racing, the faster I would go.”
Graves, who competed in the lightweight men’s single at the 2009 and 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, clocked the fastest time in each of the three preliminary races.
“It was a blast,” he said. “Each race was better and better. It was a lot of fun. I wasn’t going to race (at NSR #1) until about two weeks ago. You never know after the Olympics, who is going to be here. I just wanted to get more race experience and prepare for the summer.”
Graves is the younger brother of Peter, who was a member of the London men’s quad, and Thomas, a three-time national team member. He says he owes a lot to his brothers, who “cultivated my ability to sprint through the finish line” of the final.
“My two older brothers, who have been in the U.S. double the last few years, have always told me that you can probably get away with whatever you want in the first 1,750 meters, but that in the last 250, you can make up a lot of ground. I wanted to make sure I was conscious in that last minute, and make sure that I got ahead first. I brought it up at the end, and finished things up strong.”
Whelpley finished second with a time of 7:06.92. Potomac Boat Club’s Willie Cowles (Farmington, Conn.) edged out teammate Matt Miller by just 0.17 seconds for third place, 7:13.68 to 7:13.85. Lake Samish Training Center’s Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Potomac’s Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.) rounded out the final.
In the women’s single sculls, USRowing Training Center – Princeton sculler Eleanor Logan dominated the field in the time trial, heat and semifinal en route to the final. The two-time Olympic gold medalist took a comfortable lead early in Saturday’s race.
Coming into the final stretch, Logan maintained open water to win in a 7:39.96. USRowing TC teammates Ellen Tomek (Flushing, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), who represented the U.S. in the women’s double at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, matched each other stroke for stroke through the body of the race. Tomek pulled ahead to finish second in a 7:47.86 to Kalmoe’s 7:49.72.
Logan, who transitioned to sculling after winning gold in the women’s eight in London, said that competing in the single is a newfound challenge.
“It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s something that I’m finding I enjoy,” said Logan. “It drives me, and it’s fun to explore that area of my ability. I love the eight, but the single is completely different.”
Logan tested herself on the international stage at the 2013 World Cup I in Australia last month, and came home with a bronze medal in a field that included London Olympic medalists and Rio hopefuls.
“Right now, I’m just trying to get faster,” said Logan. “It’s always nice to put yourself in a race situation and race against your own teammates. The single exposes every weakness, so that’s exciting, because now I know exactly the areas where I need to train and what I need to work on.”
USRowing TC’s Meghan O’Leary (Baton Rouge, La.), London gold medalist from Potomac BC, Esther Lofgren (Newport Beach, Calf.), and California Rowing Club’s Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) rounded out the field.
For three other boat classes – the men’s pair and the lightweight men’s and women’s single sculls – National Selection Regatta #1 serves as a speed order opportunity.
USRowing Training Center’s Seth Weil (Menlo Park, Calif.) and London bronze medalist Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.), who posted the fastest time trial and won Friday’s exhibition race, returned Saturday to win the men’s pair final in a 6:36.11. Weil and Rummel crossed 1.5 seconds ahead of teammates Mike Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) and Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.), who finished in 6:37.62. In third, Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Max Goff (Sun Prairie, Wis.) crossed in a 6:38.25.
The next three USRowing TC men’s pairs finished less than a second apart. Ian Silveira (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Mike DiSanto (Boston, Mass.) crossed in a 6:40.00 to Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) and Ross James (DeKalb, Ill.), who clocked a 6:40.32. Tom Dethlefs (Lawrenceville, N.J.) and Rob Munn (Redmond, Wash.) posted a time of 6:40.69.
Craftsbury Sculling Center’s Hugh McAdam (Philadelphia, Pa.) posted the fastest time in the final of the lightweight men’s single sculls. McAdam won in 7:25.53, followed by Riverside Boat Club’s Andrew Hashway (West Boylston, Mass.) in 7:30.34 and Seattle Rowing Center’s Alex Twist (Seattle, Wash.) in a 7:36.53. Malta Boat Club’s Colin Ethridge, Vesper Boat Club’s Peter Alter and Riverside’s Jacob Georgeson rounded out the field.
After posting impressive results this week in the lightweight women’s single sculls, USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City’s Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) did not disappoint on finals day. The 2011 world championship double sculler turned lightweight found her rhythm early and completed the course in an 8:02.90. California Rowing Club’s Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.), who competed in the event last summer in London, finished second in an 8:16.19.
Riverside’s Hillary Saeger (Dedham. Mass.) finished third in an 8:20.80, followed by Potomac’s Devery Karz (Park City, Utah), 8:24.73; Vesper’s Mary Jones, 8:31.24; and USRowing TC – OKC’s Nicole Dinion (Arlington, Va.) in an 8:32.62.
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