WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - The 2015 Under 23 & Senior I World Championships Trials are underway at Mercer Lake, with time trials in 17 events completed on Sunday evening.
Rising stars and seasoned national team members are here to race for an opportunity to represent the United States this summer in international competition. Winners of the 12 under 23 events will have the opportunity to compete July 22-26 at the 2015 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In the seven Senior I Trials events, a win offers crews the opportunity to compete at the 2015 World Rowing Championships, August 29-Sept. 6, in Aiguebelette, France.
Results from Sunday's time trials determined lane placement in heats and finals, as all competitors advanced to the next round of racing.
In under 23 racing, sixty-five athletes from 18 clubs compete in 12 events this week including the men's and women's single sculls, men's and women's double sculls, men's four with coxswain, lightweight men's and women's single sculls, lightweight men's and women's double sculls, lightweight men's pair and lightweight men's and women's quadruple sculls.
Craftsbury Sculling Center's Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.) kicked off competition on Sunday evening with a time trial win in the under 23 men's single sculls. Davison, a member of the 2014 U.S. Junior and Under 23 National Teams, clocked a 6:49.82.
On the women's side, Craftsbury's Kristina Wagner (Weston, Mass.), a member of the 2013 U.S. Under 23 National Team, won the under 23 women's single sculls time trial in a 7:34.94.
Also highlighting racing were two members of the 2014 U.S. Under 23 National Team, Alexander Bonorris (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Jordan Tewksbury Volpe (Naples, Italy), who returned to Mercer Lake to win the time trial of the lightweight men's pair in 6:30.21.
For complete results of the under 23 time trials, click here.
In senior-level competition, five time trials were contested Sunday.
In the lightweight men's single sculls, four-time national team member Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) of Newport Aquatic Center won the time trial in a 6:36.04.
Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) followed with a time trial win in the lightweight women's single sculls, clocking a time of 7:08.20. Bertko, a five-time national team member, won a bronze medal in the event at last year's world championships and silver in the lightweight double sculls at the 2013 World Rowing Championships.
Two-time national team member Peter Gibson (Belmont, Mass.) and Beijing Olympian Robin Prendes (Miami, Fla.) won the time trial of the lightweight men's pair in 6:16.63. Gibson and Prendes won the lightweight four at the 2015 Pan American Games Trials last month and will represent the U.S. in competition July 10-26 in Canada.
In the men's pair with coxswain, the Vesper Boat Club and Penn A.C. composite entry of coxswain Jacob Mendelson (Jacksonville, Fla.), Taylor Brown (Winter Park, Fla.) and Erick Winstead (Fairfield, Conn.) clocked the fastest time with a 6:55.90. Brown and Winstead will compete in the men's eight at the 2015 Pan American Games.
The composite lightweight women's quadruple sculls crew of Kathryn Shiro (Huntsville, Ala.), Emily Schmieg (Washington, D.C.), Morgan McGovern (San Francisco, Calif.) and Michaela Copenhaver (New Milford, Conn.) won its time trial. Representing Southern California Scullers Club, GMS Rowing Center and Potomac Boat Club, the crew clocked a 6:13.36.
In total, 49 athletes from 20 clubs are competing in senior-level events. The lightweight men's quadruple sculls and men's lightweight eight crews will go to the line Wednesday for finals. Racing continues Monday morning at 7 a.m. with heats in five under 23 events. Wednesday's finals will be live-streamed on USRowing's YouTube Channel.