The third 2007 National Selection Regatta (NSR) got underway Friday with time trials and select heats at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The national selection regattas are the first step towards making the 2007 National Team, which will compete at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships August 26-September 2 in Munich, Germany.
In the men's pair, two of the three heats were raced on Friday evening, but the third heat was postponed until Saturday morning due to inclement weather. Caspersen Training Center's Beau Hoopman and Matt Schnobrich won the first heat in a time of 6:41.58, followed by Caspersen's Giuseppe Lanzone and Alex Hearne in a 6:46.94. Caspersen's Scott Gault and Steve Coppola finished third in a 6:50.39, while Penn AC's Toby Ayer and Chris DeFelice finished fourth. In the second heat, Penn AC's Micah Boyd and Ted Farwell crossed the finish line in a 6:41.29 to defeat Caspersen Training Center's Josh Inman and Brett Newlin by 2.26 seconds. Caspersen's Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss finished third, followed by Caspersen's Bryan Volpenhein and Sam Burns. In the morning time trial, Hoopman and Schnobrich clocked the fastest time, finishing in a 6:45.50 to earn the top seed going into the heats. The top four finishers in each heat will advance to Saturday evening's semifinals.
In the time trial of the men's double sculls, Caspersen Training Center's Sam Stitt and Matt Hughes recorded the fastest time to earn the top seed in Saturday's heats. Hughes and Stitt covered the course in a 6:38.93, finishing 0.75 seconds ahead of Caspersen's Mark Flickinger and Shane O'Mara. Caspersen's Francis Cuddy and Deaglan McEachern finished an additional 1.3 seconds behind in third place, while the Caspersen duo of J. Sloan DuRoss and Mike Perry finished fourth in a 6:43.83, 0.03 seconds ahead of Vesper Boat Club's Warren Anderson and Ben Churchill.
The Malta Boat Club/Penn AC entry of Richard Montgomery and Andrew Liverman finished with the fastest time in the time trial of the lightweight men's double sculls and will be the top seep in tomorrow's heats. Liverman and Montgomery, who won the event at last week's Pan American Games Trials, crossed the finish line with a time of 6:45.06, finishing 0.13 seconds ahead of Penn AC's Ivan Baldytchev and Evan Price. Undine Barge Club's Cody Lowery and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, who represented the U.S. in the event at last year's world championships, finished third in a 6:48.07.
In the women's double sculls, Caspersen Training Center's Lia Pernell and Liane Malcos finished with the fastest time of the time trial to earn the top seed in Saturday's heats. Pernell and Malcos, who raced in the women's quadruple sculls at last year's world championships, crossed the finish line with a time of 7:11.53, more than four seconds ahead of the Vesper Boat Club tandem of Jana Heere and Wendy Campanella. The Vesper boat finished with a time of 7:15.92. Caspersen Training Center's Stesha Carle and Megan Kalmoe finished third in a 7:19.11.
NSR III includes races in five boat classes - the men's and women's double sculls, men's and women's pair, and the lightweight men's double sculls. At NSR III, the winners of the three men's events have the opportunity to automatically qualify for the national team without further selection if they meet a minimum performance standard during the regatta or at a subsequent event held before July 17. If a crew does not meet the standard or does not accept its berth on the team, the boat category will be opened up to all competitors at the 2007 World Championships Team Trials scheduled for July 20-August 3.
NSR III racing continues on Saturday with heats and semifinals, with the finals being held on Sunday morning.
The NSR's and the World Championships Trials are sponsored by the National Rowing Foundation as part of its support of the U.S. National Team.