The 2007 Pan American Games Trials for rowing will be held May 20-25 at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
In total, 10 events will be contested at the trials, with the winners earning spots on the team that will represent the United States at the 2007 Pan American Games July 14-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pending United States Olympic Committee approval.
Events being contested at the trials include the men's single sculls, women's single sculls, men's double sculls, women's double sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, men's pair, women's pair, men's four and lightweight men's four. In addition, the men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls and men's eight will be selected from the above events. For both the men's and women's quadruple sculls, the winners of the single and double will join the second-place finisher from the single to make up the crew. For the men's eight, the winners of the pair and four will join the second-place finisher from the pair to make up the crew.
Racing begins Sunday evening at 6 p.m. with a time trial in the men's single sculls. Heats and some repechages, or second-chance races, will be held Monday, with semifinals and the remaining repechages being held Tuesday. Finals are contested in a best two-out-of-three format, with the first finals taking place on Wednesday and the second finals taking place on Thursday. In events in which different crews win the first and second final, a third final will be held on Friday. Racing begins at 7 a.m. during the week.
The men's single leads the way in numbers of entries with 20. The field includes two Olympians, Jamie Schroeder and Steve Tucker. Schroeder, who raced in the four at the 2004 Olympic Games, finished 12th in the single at the 2006 FISA World Championships. Tucker, a two-time Olympian in the lightweight men's double sculls, returns after taking the past two years off from international competition.
Nine scullers have entered the women's single sculls field, including four national team veterans. Julie Nichols won a silver medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2005 World Championships, while Melissa Rice is looking to make her second Pan American Games squad. Rice won a bronze medal in the lightweight single sculls at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Eight boats have entered the men's pair. The field includes nine senior national team veterans. Caspersen Training Center's Dan Beery, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the men's eight, will race with Patrick O'Dunne. Paul Daniels, a medalist at the past three world championships and a double medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games, will race with David Banks, while Ken Jurkowski, a men's eight bronze medalist at last year's world championships, will race with Dan Fronhofer.
Seven crews have entered the men's double sculls, including the Princeton Training Center duo of Francis Cuddy and Deaglan McEachern. Cuddy raced in the same event at last year's world championships. Riverside Boat Club's Brett Wilkinson and Kent Smack, who were members of the 2004 Olympic quadruple sculls crew, return to racing after taking the past two years off from international competition.
The women's double sculls event also has seven entries. Marika Page and Heather Moon, who competed as lightweights at the 2005 World Championships, are the only senior national team veterans in the field. Several of the other competitors have had success at the national level and are looking to make their first international squad.
Seven crews are entered in the lightweight men's double sculls. The field includes seven national team veterans. Andrew Liverman and Gavin Frase both competed at the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic. Liverman, who will race with two-time national team member Richard Montgomery, won bronze in the men's open weight single sculls and finished fourth in the open quadruple sculls in Santo Domingo, while Frase, who will race with national team veteran Rob Zechmann, finished fourth in the lightweight quadruple sculls. Greg Ruckman, a two-time Olympian, will race with national team veteran Tim Larson.
The lightweight women's double sculls field includes four crews. Maria Picone, who will race with Rebecca Smith, is a two-time national team member, while Hannah Moore, who will race with Carey Brezler, was an alternate on the 2005 National Team.
The field in the men's four consists of five crews. The Caspersen Training Center boat is the most decorated crew in the contest, with 2000 Olympic men's pair silver medalist Sebastian Bea and four-time national team member Gabe Winkler making up half the lineup.
Three crews have entered the lightweight men's four. All eight rowers in the two Caspersen Training Center crews are national team veterans. One crew includes Matt Smith, Bjorn Larson, Simon Carcagno, and Andrew Bolton, while the second crew consists of Colin Farrell, Tom Paradiso, Pat Todd, and Matt Muffelman. Smith and Todd were members of the lightweight four that raced at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Two crews have entered the women's pair event. Jennifer Wawrzonek and Ann Crawford will take on Jennifer Reck and Sam Byrd.