PRINCETON, N.J. USRowing will have five women's crews racing at the first stop of the 2006 BearingPoint World Cup May 25-27 in Munich, Germany. The U.S. will have two crews racing in the women's pair, and one crew racing in each of the lightweight women's double sculls, women's double sculls, and women's single sculls.
The lightweight double sculls tandem of Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) and Renee Hykel (Haverford, Pa.) will race in its first international competition since winning a silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Gifu, Japan. The duo has already secured its spot on the 2006 U.S. National Team thanks to a victory at the second National Selection Regatta in late April. In Munich, Nichols and Hykel will be taking on 23 other crews.
Likewise, the women's pair of Anna Mickelson (Bellevue, Wash.) and Megan Cooke (Los Gatos, Calif.) has already qualified for this year's national team after winning the event at NSR 2. While Mickelson is a six-time national team member with an Olympic silver medal and Cooke is a three-time national team member, the women will be making their international debut as a pair. The duo will be taking on 23 crews in Munich including the second U.S. pair of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.). Goodale and Shoop finished second at NSR 2 and will be using Munich as an opportunity to gain racing experience as they prepare for the selection camp for the women's eight. Both Goodale and Shoop made their first national team last year, with Goodale racing in the eight and Shoop racing in both the pair and eight.
Michelle Guerette (Bristol, Conn.) will race in the women's single sculls in Munich. Guerette, who won a bronze medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships, won the single at the first National Selection Regatta and only needs to meet a qualifying standard by July 12 in order to make the 2006 National Team. She will race against 21 other single scullers in Munich including Belarus' Ekaterina Karsten and the Czech Republic's Mirka Knapkova, last year's gold and silver medalists in the event.
Similarly, the women's double sculls tandem of Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Brett Sickler (Los Gatos, Calif.) won the double sculls at the second National Selection Regatta and only needs to meet a qualifying standard to earn a spot on this year's national team. The duo will be making its international debut in Munich against 16 other crews. Francia made her first national team last year as a member of the women's eight, while Sickler is looking to make her first senior national team this season after competing on the under 23 and junior national teams in previous years.
A record number of 750 athletes will be competing in Munich. Racing begins on Thursday, May 25, with heats and repechages, or second-chance races. The remaining repechages and semifinals will take place Saturday, with the finals being held on Sunday.